


It's Going to be Okay (We're together)

by There_Once_Was_A_Girl



Series: The Tales of Jemma Oluransi [1]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-05
Updated: 2016-05-25
Packaged: 2018-05-31 08:37:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 36,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6463306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/There_Once_Was_A_Girl/pseuds/There_Once_Was_A_Girl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ransom has baby girl. Holster's always there for his best friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this is ridiculous. I have a weakness for accidental baby acquisition, also for Ransom/Holster
> 
> I don't own anything Check Please.

Adam Birkholtz knew Justin Oluransi better than anyone else in the entire world, probably better than he knew himself. So when he answered his phone that day he didn't even need to say hello to know something was really wrong.

“Rans? Are you alright?” Holster asked. He didn’t know when he started being worried about Ransom whenever he wasn’t by Holster’s side, but he realized now that the low level worry was always there and it didn't take much to make it flare up. Not that this was something small. Ransom was breathing hard and fast on the other end of the line. He’s panicking about something.

“What’s wrong, bro? Where are you at?” Holster asked when Ransom didn’t say anything immediately. He needed to find his best-friend first, then he needed to pound the crap out of whoever had upset the delicate coral reef that was Ransom’s well being. 

“I’m at the Haus.” Ransom managed at last, “I… I fucked up, Holtz. I fucked up.” He sounded like the whole world was ending, Holster was moving from where he had been sitting in the library before he even realized it. 

“It’s gonna be okay, dude, I promise. Whatever it is we’ll figure it out together and you’re gonna be okay.” He told Ransom as he hurried across campus, trying not to break into a run. 

“I don’t think we can fix this one.” Ransom said, and his voice was broken. It scared Holster more than he had thought possible. 

“Okay, I’ll be right there. Just hang on.” He said said, hanging up so he could run the rest of the way back to the Haus. No one else seemed to be home but Holster wasn’t sure he would have noticed if they were, he just ran straight up the stairs to their room.

Ransom was sitting on the lower bunk, rocking back and forth. Except it wasn’t his normal anxious fetal position type of rocking. He was holding something. Holster stopped dead the second he realized what it was. Ransom looked up at him with desperate panicked eyes, and Holster just stared back at his friend. His friend who was holding a baby in his arms. The infant looked tiny in Ransom’s arms, absurdly small compared to the hockey player, but where Ransom was clearly losing it the little girl was just calmly staring out at the world. Holster assumed she was a girl since she was wrapped in a pink blanket, though he suspected that Shitty would have something to say on that subject. She had soft very light brown skin, a short layer of fuzzy curls over her head, and what were undoubtedly Ransom’s wide brown eyes. 

 

“Ransom,” Holster said, speaking in a slow calm voice, “Are you alright?” He asked. He sat down next to Ransom on the bed, reaching a hand out to touch Ransom’s shoulder gently. Ransom shook his head. 

“I fucked up.” He said again. Holster wrapped his arm around Ransom’s shoulders. 

“She’s yours right?” He asked in the same voice he used when Ransom was curled into a ball somewhere during exam week. Ransom nodded. 

“How?” Holster asked. He knew he probably shouldn’t push, but he needed to figure out what the hell was going on. He knows Ransom hasn't had a girlfriend in nearly a year, even longer than it’s been for Holster. That's not to say that they hadn't both had a bunch of various flings and hookups, they had, but Ransom hadn't said a word about any of them resulting in a pregnancy. He could even remember seeing a pregnant girl around campus, familiar or not. The fact of the matter was, if Ransom had known before today that he had a daughter, he would have told Holster. He had not. 

"You remember that girl Rachel, who I was talking to last year?" Ransom asked. Holster nodded, she had seemed pretty cool. 

"Yeah she dropped out just when I thought you two might be something good." He remembered. Ransom grimaced.

"Yeah well she never told me why exactly, said she didn't have the money for it anymore, which didn't make a ton of sense but whatever. She didn't tell me that she dropped out because her parents made her when they found out she was pregnant. She never even told me she was pregnant!" He was starting to sound hysterical again. 

"Were you safe, or...?" Holster asked, unable to stop the question. It just wasn't like Ransom to have been reckless, that was Holster who had had scares before when he had forgotten safety due to drunkenness. Ransom nodded. 

"Ninety-nine percent effective." He said derisively. Holster grimaced in sympathy. Ransom was leaning into his side a bit now, still cradling the baby girl. 

"So she just didn't tell you for nine months?" Holster asked, "Damn that's cold. Why now?"

"That's where it gets worse." Ransom said. Holster raised his eyebrows but just waited.  
"Her parents pulled her out for a couple reasons. They are super duper Catholic which meant she absolutely had to keep it, they made her."

"That's fucked." Holster commented, he can practically hear Shitty's rant about how a woman's body was her own damn business and nobody could take her rights from her. 

"Yeah. It's worse. She had a medical condition, a weak heart, that made pregnancy super dangerous for her. Like deadly, hence no school." Ransom said. Holster gripped him tighter knowing where this was going and wishing it would go somewhere else. 

"She died?" He asked, voice breaking a little. He hadn't know her super well but still, that was awful. Ransom nodded. "Jesus, her parents made her have a baby she didn't want, when they knew it could kill her?!" 

"Yup." Ransom agreed, "It gets worse. They decided they just couldn't bring themselves to raise the baby that had killed their daughter, so they came to find me." Ransom said. Holster was more furious than he had ever been. 

"What the fuck?! Like it's the poor baby's fault and not theirs for making her have the kid?! What the hell is wrong with these people?!" He demanded. Ransom shook his head, shrugging. 

"They hate me, by the way, they think it's entirely my fault." He added. "I get the feeling they might have kept her if she wasn't black... but... They said they were going to send her to an orphanage if I didn't take custody... I couldn't... I just... She's my daughter." Ransom said, and he was shaking now, and crying. Holster shifted and offered up his arms. 

“Do you want me to hold her for a little bit?” He asked. Ransom looked down at the baby girl in his arms, then back at Holster. 

“Thanks” He answered with a sniffle, lifting her into Holster’s arms. “This is Holster, Jemma.” He murmured to her. As soon as she was in his arms Holster suddenly felt like maybe taking her from Ransom was a bad plan. He had just been concerned with making sure Ransom was alright and that he didn’t accidentally squeeze her too tight or drop her or something equally bad. Now he realized how tiny she was, and how little experience he had with children. He cradled her as carefully as he could. He was suddenly overwhelmed by the fact that this was Ransom’s daughter. Ransom had a daughter, not just an abstract baby that had indirectly caused the death of a girl they knew, but a tiny person who was right here. This tiny human being was half Ransom, a part of him, and Ransom had just handed her to Holster without a second’s thought. 

"She's beautiful." Holster murmured, because it was true. Ransom nodded, still crying a little bit. "And her name's Jemma?" Holster asked. 

"Yeah, Rachel named her Jemma Rose Oluransi." Ransom answered, "Don't know why she used my last name." He added. 

"Probably because it's cool." Holster told him, he looked down at the baby girl in his arms, "Hello, Jemma. How are you?" He cooed, unable to stop himself. Ransom smiled a little, and something in Holster's chest loosened the tiniest bit. 

"What am I going to do?" Ransom asked at last. Holster grimaced. 

"I'm not sure what we're gonna do. We should talk to Shitty about legal stuff, like how to deal with the official part and all that. Then we are gonna have to talk to Jack, and probably coach, about keeping her here, we've gotta figure out how that's gonna work... if you want of course. I mean obviously you don't have to try to raise your daughter in a hockey frat house. Not that you even have to raise her, you can always make sure she gets adopted by good people, or talk to your parents. I don't know if they'd take care of her while you're here, or if you'd want to leave here, go home and take her with you..." he had started rambling, filled with the sudden terror that came with realizing this might mean Ransom leaving, leaving the Haus, or leaving Samwell all together. The thought tightened Holster's chest and he couldn't breathe normally.

"I'm going to have to talk the other guys. If they aren't cool with us having a baby up here I'll have to move out. Coach Hall too, to see if we can figure out how to work around practice, and I don't even want to think about classes and having time for homework... but um... I don't think I could give her away." Ransom said. Holster started to breathe again. 

"Okay. Okay. We're going to make this work. But first we've got to make sure we have the stuff to take care of her. Did her grandparents leave anything?" Holster asked. He looked up at Ransom, he hadn't even realized he was staring at Jemma. Ransom was staring at him with astonished wonder, like he couldn't quite believe he was real. Holster's stomach flipped at the sight of his, because damn if it wasn't pretty amazing to be looked at like that.

"Dude, what is that look for?" Holster asked. 

"Just... I show up with a baby and tell you I've gotta take care of her and the first thing you do is start talking about what we are going to do." Ransom said, Holster gave him a look like "so?" Ransom chuckled. "Dude, do you know how many people would run away screaming? But you're just like 'sign me up, I'm going to help you raise your child'" 

"Yeah, guess so." Holster answered, because the alternative hadn't even occurred to him, "I mean, she's your daughter Rans. You're my best bro in the entire world, not to mention my roommate, and she's your daughter. Of course I'm going to help you raise her." Ransom smiled at him like Holster had just pulled him out of a burning building. Holster decided not to analyze the swooping feeling in his chest at that moment. 

"Do you want to take her back?" He asked instead, "She's so tiny I feel like I'm going to crush her by mistake." 

"I know." Ransom agreed as he took his daughter back, she was yawning and her eyes were drooping now. "Oh, Rachel's parents left us a car seat, diaper bag, some clothes, some bottles and formula, a changing mat, and one of those carrier things that you can strap to your chest. I left it all downstairs." He added, remembering. Holster nodded. He stood up. 

"I'll go get her stuff, be back in a sec." He said. He did not run. He did not run from the room where his distraught best friend was holding his beautiful child, that would be... difficult to explain. He wasn't sure why it was so hard for him to look at them right now, he just knew he needed a few seconds to pull himself together before going back into that room. He found a pile of bags and things in the corner of the living room and gathered them up. He slung a duffle bag over his shoulder, and tossed everything else into the car seat and carried it back up to their attic room. 

"She's going to need somewhere to sleep." Ransom said, looking around the room. Holster nodded. He pulled the sock drawer out of the top of his dresser and dumped the socks on the ground. He pulled a couple blankets out of their closet and padded it, making sure to duct tape the edges so that the blankets would fall or get to be too much of a mess that might smother Jemma. 

"It's not perfect but she'll be okay in there for now." He said, setting it next to Ransom, who nodded. He set Jemma in her new bed, she was already asleep. He tucked the blanket she had been in at her feet, Holster saw that she was wearing a soft lilac onesie. 

"Thanks." Ransom murmured. 

"No problem, bro." Holster said brightly, "Toss all my socks in your drawer, we share anyway." He added. He was sorting through all of the baby stuff they had been left with, trying to figure out what they'd need. 

"We're gonna have to go shopping." He muttered, "Always gonna need more diapers, we need more formula, and probably a few more things for her to wear, she's gonna grow out of these soon enough, I don't think we have the time right now to get a proper crib so that'll just have to do for now. We need baby wipes, and soap, and powder, and all that stuff... at least my sister always said she did." 

"Right, I forgot you had a baby nephew. I was wondering how you knew all this baby stuff, dude." Ransom said. 

"I'm no expert. We'll figure this out though. No problem. It's gonna be fine." He said. Ransom nodded. 

"Thanks." He said again, still obviously overwhelmed. Holster nodded. They were both looking down at Jemma. 

"How old is she?" Holster asked. 

"Three months." Ransom answered softly, "They said they tried, really tried for those three months, to love her.... but they couldn't." 

"How could anyone not love her?" Holster asked. He had known Jemma existed for less than an hour and he already loved her. She had taken over a large part of Holster’s heart, just by existing. He could see in Ransom’s eyes that it was even worse for him, that little girl had become the new center of his universe the second he knew she existed. Something about that made Holster jealous… not that Ransom’s daughter was the new most important person in his world, that just made sense, but that she was someone else’s daughter too. Rachel. Holster found himself reevaluating the girl he had met a couple times last year. He had thought she seemed pretty cool but now he couldn’t help disliking her a bit. After all she had kept Ransom’s daughter a secret from him, he had a right to know. He tried not to hate too much, she was dead after all, but the anger was there. 

“Yeah, it’s fucked...” Ransom murmured, “I don’t even know. Anyway, yeah, her birthday was the 18th of August.” He added. Holster nodded, then frowned. 

“No,” he muttered, “That means she’s three months old today. Exactly three months old, like they…” He started indignantly and then couldn’t bring himself to continue.

“Set a time limit for how long they were going to try before handing her off?” Ransom finished for him with a nod. 

“Fucked up.” Holster muttered and Ransom nodded. 

“Yup.” He agreed. Holster glanced down at Jemma. 

“Should I not swear around her?” He asked, “I know a lot of parents aren’t cool with that.” He offered. Ransom looked almost confused. 

“I don’t know? What do you think?” He asked.

“I think it’s a bit silly since she doesn’t understand yet, maybe just tone it down a bit so that her first word isn’t fuck. She’s your daughter though, it’s your call.” Holster answered. 

“Just tone it down a bit sounds good.” Ransom agreed. Holster nodded. 

“Sounds good. When did she last eat?” He asked. Ransom shrugged. 

“I called you about half an hour after they left, as soon as I got it together enough to dial. I don’t know when they last fed her.” He answered, “God, am I awful? I should know shouldn’t I? I’m going to be an awful father, Holster, I can’t do this.” 

"Don't be ridiculous. Rans, you are the smartest, strongest, most reliable person I know, you're going to make a fantastic dad." Holster assured him with complete and sincere confidence. He believed it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I started this story off without a beta, and I'm now trying to go back through and fix the early chapters, so there are minor edits happening (it's been a few months since I've finished it and I'm just now getting around to it I know). It won't really change the story at all though.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ransom and Holster introduce Jemma to their teammates

"We should call Shitty." Holster said quietly, unsure of how long they had both been sitting watching the sleeping baby. Well, Ransom had been staring at Jemma, Holster had alternated between staring at Jemma and staring at Ransom staring at Jemma. The look on his face... Holster didn't even know how to categorize it. 

"Yeah." Ransom agreed, but he made no move for his phone, so Holster stood up and pulled his phone out of his pocket. 

"Yo! What's up, Dude?" Shitty said upon answering his phone. Holster paused, not exactly sure how to answer that question. 

"Where are you?" He asked instead. 

"Library, why?" Shitty answered. 

"Could you get back to the Haus? Like immediately, without bringing anyone else with you or letting on that anything major is happening?" Holster asked. 

"Yeeesss...." Shitty answered, "You gonna tell me why?" 

"Not until you get here no. Just come up to our room when you get here." Holster answered. 

"Fine. I love a mystery. Be there in a minute." Shitty answered.

"Thanks Shits." Holster muttered before hanging up. 

"Thanks." Ransom murmured. Holster just sat back down by his side and wrapped an arm around him, tight. Ransom leaned into his shoulder, clearly still shellshocked. They stayed that way until they heard Shitty on the stairs. 

"So, what the hell is this about, Holster? Because is you just interrupted my thesis so you could..." he had started talking before he entered the room but stopped once he did and saw their faces. 

"Who died?" He asked, and it would have almost been rude but he sounded legitimately worried. 

"Rachel Williams." Ransom murmured. Shitty's eyes went wide, face drooping. 

"That girl you were with last year? Wow, sorry dude that sucks. I haven't seen her in a year, what happened?" He asked. Ransom opened his mouth and then closed it again, seemingly incapable of speaking.

"She died three months ago, due to complications in childbirth." Holster said, looking from Shitty and then down at their makeshift crib. Shitty followed his gaze.

"Holy Fuck." He said flatly, "Is that...? Is she...?" He was looking between Ransom and Jemma in shock. Ransom and Holster both nodded. 

"Holy Fuck." Shitty repeated. 

"If you could tone it down, Rans was kinda hoping his daughter's first word won't rhyme with duck." Holster interjected. 

"Right, Fuck! Sorry! Oh shit! Sorry! Sorry!" Shitty exclaimed. "Jesus! Wow... I'm just surprised. Sorry. Wow. Jesus, Ransom are you okay, Bro?" 

"I'm umm... I don't know, Shits." Ransom answered after a long moment. 

"I'm sorry, Rans, I'm so sorry. Did you... did you know she was pregnant?" Shitty asked. 

"Shit, dude, you think I wouldn't have told you all if I did?" Ransom asked. "No. I have no idea how they tracked me down but the Williamses, Rachel's parents, showed up here earlier. Told me it all and..." he couldn't keep talking again. 

"They showed up and told Ransom, they couldn't love the child that killed their daughter, like it was her fault when they were the bastards who made their daughter with a heart disease stay pregnant." Holster said, unable to curb the ferocity in his voice. "They were Catholic, they wouldn't let her, they wouldn't.... so she died, and they blamed Jemma, and they blamed Ransom." Shitty looked so furious to the point of being beyond speechless, he was shaking. 

"They told me they weren't taking care of her. Of course they couldn't take care of the half black baby who lived when their perfect innocent baby girl died. Because apparently my baby girl wasn't as good to them. So it was either I take her or they were just going to drop her at an orphanage. I couldn't let them... she's my daughter." He stammered. Shitty just grabbed him and pulled him up into a tight hug. 

"You did right, bro. You did good. You're gonna be okay, dude. It's okay. They're shit. They're shit and they don't deserve you or her." He said. "What's her name?" He asked, looking over at Jemma. "What's your name beautiful?"

"Jemma. Jemma Rose Oluransi. Rachel gave her my name." 

"Presumably, because her family sucked." Shitty said. 

"Yeah, no kidding." Holster said roughly. Shitty, looked down at Jemma with a smile. 

"She's beautiful, Rans." He murmured. 

"Thanks." Ransom said, smiling a little. 

"So I hate to ask it... but you're positive she's yours?" Shitty asked. 

"Haven't done a paternity test, but I know Rachel wasn’t seeing anyone else. And… well look at her.” Ransom muttered. Shitty glanced down at Jemma and then nodded. 

“Fair enough. Right, so you want to actually take legal custody of her? Like for good?” He asked. Ransom bit his lip but he nodded. 

“They left some papers, I forgot, they’re on the desk.” He said. Shitty nodded and went over to find them, skimming through it all. 

“Right, this all looks decent enough. We’ll have to settle a few things and unfortunately we’ll probably have to speak to those despicable human beings again before we can be done with them forever but this shouldn’t be too hard to sort out.” Shitty said with a small smile. Ransom nodded. 

“We’re not letting those people anywhere near Jemma again. Or Rans if I can help it.” Holster said. Shitty nodded. 

“No shit, dude.” He agreed. “Now, what can I do to help for the time being?” 

“We have to tell Jack.” Ransom said, looking like he said, 'I have to go face the death squads.'

“We’ve got your back, bro.” Holster promised, “He won’t be a dick about it.” 

“I have to tell coach.” Ransom added, looking truly depressed. “I’m gonna have to quit the team!” 

“Woah! No jumping to conclusions, no one is quitting anything.” Shitty exclaimed. 

“We’ll figure this out dude. You’ve gotta stay on the team. We can’t do this without you. We’ll make sure you can take care of Jemma and play, and get into med school. It’s all gonna happen, bro.” Holster promised. Shitty nodded fervently. 

"Yeah, seriously. We've all got your back." He said, he was about to continue when they heard the door open downstairs. Bitty was talking about something excitedly, presumably to Jack. Ransom went as pale as he was capable of going, resulting in an ashey sort of blanched color that Holster quickly decided was the worst thing he had ever seen.

"Don't freak out, we've got this." Holster told him. "Shits. Can you talk to Jack, just warn him and all that. I'll cover the basics with the team to make sure it's all good before Ransom get down there?" He suggested. Ransom breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. Shitty nodded as well. 

"Shits, you here?" Lardo called up, loudly. They all startled at the volume, and Shitty leapt to his feet and headed towards the stairs. 

"Keep it down!" He hissed in a shout whisper. 

"Shitty Knight you do not get to order me around!" Lardo shouted. Shitty practically tackled her down, leaping off the stairs and slapping a hand over her mouth.

"Lardo, for the love of god, shush!" He commanded. "I'll explain in a minute, just, shush. If you wake her up I think Rans might explode, then Holster will murder you and then I'd have to kill him." 

"What the hell are you talking about?" Lardo asked but she wasn't shouting anymore. 

"Well... okay I'm gonna let Rans and Holster take that one, just gather in the living room." He said, already turning off to grab Jack. 

"What's going on?" Jack asked, not looking up from his laptop. 

"Long story very short, there's a sleeping baby in the Haus.” Shitty said with a grimace. Jack looked up at him sharply. 

“Shitty what the hell happened?” He demanded. 

“Right, so I figured I should tell you because if you freak on Ransom he’s gonna lose it. He’s really fragile right now. Um, he was with Rachel Williams for a while last year, and then she went home for thanksgiving and never came back. She um, she was pregnant and her parents made her drop out of school and keep the kid, but she had some sort of heart disease thing and giving birth killed her. Then her dumbass parents tried to keep the baby for about three months, then decided they really are scum who hate their own granddaughter and they ditched her on Ransom today. So yeah. Ransom has a baby girl, she’s asleep in Holster’s sock drawer.” Shitty summarized. 

“You have got to be kidding me.” Jack muttered, “I can’t deal with this right now.” 

“Says the guy who didn’t just have his daughter who he didn’t know existed dropped on him.” Shitty pointed out. “Have a little sympathy. He’s trying to do the right thing and take care of his daughter, but he’s terrified he’s going to get kicked off the team or have to leave because of it. And we all know if he loses his scholarship it'll destroy him, that boy puts too much pressure on himself. I’m not about to let this destroy his entire future, Jack.” 

“Tabernac.” Jack muttered, “You’re right of course. How’s Ransom?” 

“In shock, I think but Holster’s holding him together.” Shitty answered. “Come on, we’ll talk to everyone in the living room yeah?” 

“Sure.” Jack agreed, standing up, “What’s her name?”

“Jemma.” Shitty told him with a smile, “She looks like him. It’s cute.” 

“Let’s just go.” Jack said, with the air of a man facing his execution. By the time they got to the living room, Chowder Dex and Nursey had joined Lardo and Bitty. Holster came down from the attic first. 

"Everyone here?" He asked, "Oh good. So prep time. Ransom has a baby girl named Jemma who was unceremoniously dropped on him today even though he never knew she existed. Jemma's mother is dead, her grandparents are satan's spawn. So yeah, looks like we're gonna have to try to raise a baby. For those of you who live in the Haus, we understand if you'd need the three of us to leave, she's a three month old baby, she's gonna cry loud and frequently. If you do let us stay we promise we'll do our best to keep her from fucking up your lives." Holster declared. Everyone stared at him.

"Oh, and when in presence of baby, tone down swearing, keep noise level to minimum and no one is allowed to feed her anything without express permission from Rans or myself." He added. 

"You don't trust us?" Shitty asked in mock offense, "We, the paramount examples of mature responsibility?"

"With my life, dude." Holster answered honestly, "But not with Jemma's." 

"Fair enough." Shitty answered. He looked over at Jack, as did everyone else. He looked startled. 

"What?" He demanded. 

"Well, you're captain, your say is what matters. Do we stay or go?" Holster asked. No one had questioned that Holster had inserted himself into the situation as if he was equally responsible for Jemma, without question that he would help raise her, and he would go wherever she and Rans went. 

"I guess that's up to everyone." Jack said, "Shits, Bitty, Lardo, everyone: opinions?" 

"I'm all for them staying." Shitty answered, lounging on the couch. "A. I would never throw one of my teammates out in the cold. B. She's an adorable fucking baby and I would be heartless if I voted her homeless just so I could get a few extra hours of sleep." 

Everyone was nodding in agreement and Holster felt like he could breathe again. He hadn't had a clue where they would go or how they could afford it. He had just known that if he had to get a job and work nights to make sure Rans and Jemma had a place to sleep he would have done it in a heartbeat. 

"You're staying." Jack said, "Of course you're staying. We would never do that to Ransom." 

"Thanks." Holster said, nodding. "Any questions I guess?" He asked. 

"Can we see her?" Bitty asked, smiling wide like the sweet southern boy he was. Holster took a moment to thank whoever was responsible for Eric Bittle. 

"Yeah, she was just waking up when I came down. Rans is just changing her then he'll be down." He said. Bitty grinned and nodded. Chowder, poor sweet child, legitimately raised his hand. 

"If we aren't supposed to swear around her, what do we call Shitty?" He asked. Holster chuckled. 

"Yo, Shits, any chance you'd tell us your first name?"

"Nope!" Shitty answered brightly. Holster shrugged. 

"It doesn't matter. You don't have to stop swearing entirely, I'm not trying to force Shitty to become mute. Just, tone it down is all." He answered. Everyone nodded and then collectively froze and looked up at the sound of footsteps from the hall. 

"Hey." Ransom said quietly. He had Jemma cradled in his arms. Everyone was on their feet in seconds, starting towards them. Holster insinuated himself between his best friend and the rest of them.

"Slow down, give him little bit of space." He ordered. 

"You don't have to be my bodyguard Holtzy." Ransom told him checking him light with his hip. 

"Just worried, Jems might be scared of a bunch of hockey players mobbing her." Holster answered. Rans smiled at him. 

"Thanks." He muttered before turning to the others. "Everyone this is my daughter, Jemma Rose Oluransi." He said with a smile, he crouched so Bitty could see. 

"Oh, aren't you just the sweetest thing?" Bittle cooed, looking overwhelmed, "She's beautiful, Ransom." 

"She has your eyes." Lardo commented, though she looked a bit indifferent. Chowder was too busy being overwhelmed to say anything. Dex looked awkward, Nursey looked like he was trying to be chill and failing for once in his life. 

"Hello, Jemma." Jack murmured when he reached the front of the small queue. Ransom was watching him worriedly. Jemma smiled and reached a hand out to Jack. He let her grab onto his finger, lifting it up and down very gently. "Nice to meet you too, darling." He chuckled. Holster caught the awed look on Bitty's face and grinned to himself. He hadn't expected that Jack would be good with kids, obviously Bitty hadn't either. Jack took his finger back when she let go. He smiled at her, then at Ransom. 

"She is beautiful, Justin." He murmured. 

"Did you just call me Justin?" Ransom asked, surprised. Jack shrugged. 

"Seemed appropriate, you just introduced me to your daughter. Ransom seemed out of place." He admitted. Rans shrugged. 

"Fair, but don't let it catch on." He said with a smile. 

"Your daughter is gonna grow up and not know your real name. She'll find out when you get married or something." Shitty teased. Ransom chuckled. 

"Well, it's not like she'll ever use my name. You call your dad, dad, not Justin or whatever." He said, then shook his head, "That's so weird. Like I know that she's real and she's mine and I want to raise her, but I can't really imagine her getting older, being able to speak to me, running around, being a real person." Ransom murmured, staring down at his baby girl. 

"Yeah, but she will be." Holster observed, he wasn't really able to imagine it either. He tried to imagine Jemma growing up, she and Ransom living in a house in suburbia somewhere, a faceless spouse helping Ransom take care of Jemma. He couldn't picture it, it felt... wrong.

"Can I hold her?!" Bitty asked at last, unable to hold back his enthusiasm.

"Ummm... yeah... sure..." Ransom answered hesitantly. He very gently, set Jemma into Bitty's arms. He hovered over Bitty like a hawk. 

"He's not going to drop her, Ransom." Jack told him, setting a hand on Rans' shoulder gently. 

"I know." Ransom muttered, but he still scooped Jemma out of Bitty's arms soon afterwards. He still made sure everyone got to say hello, just while she was still in his arms. Holster bit back a smile, he should have known Rans would be overprotective of his daughter. Then Jemma started to fuss, not crying yet, but close. 

"She's probably hungry." Ransom murmured, "I'll make her a bottle." He handed Jemma to Holster, carefully but without hesitation. 

"You sure you got it, bro?" Holster asked, bouncing Jemma gently and avoiding the raised eyebrow Shitty directed his way. 

"Yeah, I know how, technically, and I'm gonna have to figure it out if I'm gonna be a dad." Ransom answered from the kitchen. Holster nodded and tried to comfort Jemma. 

"It's okay sweetheart, your daddy's getting you some food." He murmured, and when Ransom came back and sat on the couch to feed Jemma and Holster sat by his side. Bitty was muttering something about how having a baby near that couch was child abuse but they ignored him. Soon though, everyone dispersed without needing to be told. They left Ransom and Holster to spend time with Jemma. Like a family Holster thought, before reminding himself that Jemma was Ransom's. He ignored the odd voice that wanted to say that he was Ransom's too, because it didn't make any sense.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hope you guys like the chapter, let me know if I made any errors (I have no beta and I suck at editing). 
> 
> Next time we start dealing with babies and hockey...


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ransom and Holster go to practice, talk to their coach, and discuss Holster's place in Jemma's life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning: I know nothing about Hockey.

The next day when Holster's alarm went off for morning practice he briefly considered destroying it with a baseball bat and going back to sleep. He felt warm and heavy, ridiculously comfortable, and beyond tired. Jemma started to cry, upset by the noise. It was too late for going back to sleep then. 

"I got her." Ransom murmured. Holster realized as he spoke that the warm and weight he felt was because Ransom was laying partially on top of his back, arm wrapped around him, face pressed into his shoulder. Holster remembered that Jemma had woken them up a few times in the night and after the first time Ransom had clambered down from the top bunk Holster had just pulled him into his bed instead. It was easier. 

"Holtzy, could you let go of me?" Ransom asked, Holster realized he had one of Ransom's arms tucked into his. He released his friend. 

"Sorry, dude." He muttered. He was blushing into his pillow, but he wasn't sure exactly why. 

"No biggie." Ransom answered, but his voice sounded strained. Holster brushed it off, they had cuddled before and Rans was fine, of course he sounded strained, he had become a father the day before. Holster remained in bed for only a moment longer as Ransom started changing Jemma before pulling himself up and heading downstairs. 

"I'll make her a bottle." He murmured when Ransom looked up.

"Thanks." Ransom mumbled. Holster stumbled downstairs and started heating up water for formula, making sure everything was the right temperature before bringing it back up to the attic. He took Jemma from Ransom's arms and sat down to feed her as Ransom got dressed. Then they switched off so Holster could get ready while Ransom burped her. They weren't graceful, or perfect, or even really good at it, but they got Jemma fed, changed, in clean clothes and buckled into her carseat/carrier thing in time to head to practice so he was proud. 

Ransom stepped onto the ice with his stick in one hand and Jemma's seat in the other. Jemma laughed and gurgled as they slid across the ice so he spun a couple times. She laughed more and he grinned. 

"Do you like skating sweetheart?" He asked, he spun them around again and she gurgled brightly again, making him laugh. "Good thing too. You're gonna grow up on ice, darling." He said. He crossed the rink and stepped out. He set her seat down, carefully positioning it behind the boards where she could see but there was no chance of her getting hit by a puck. 

"Just you watch, Jems, your daddy is one of the best hockey players in the league." Holster said, setting her bag with all her stuff next to her. 

"Don't lie to my daughter." Ransom scolded. 

"I'm not." Holster said with a grin. Ransom rolled his eyes but he was smiling.

"You watch and judge for yourself." He told Jemma, "I'm number eleven, keep an eye on me." She grabbed hold of his fingers and he smiled wide, seemingly against his will. 

"Don't worry, sweetheart. I'll just be on the ice a few feet away, Daddy won't ever leave you." He brushed a gentle kiss onto her forehead before heading back out towards the ice. He brushed past Holster then turned back. 

"You coming?" He asked, obviously confused. Holster was frozen in place his mind repeating like a broken record. Ransom promising his daughter that her daddy would never leave, and the forehead kiss. It was the sweetest thing Holster had ever, it made his chest feel so full with something he didn't quite understand that he couldn't move for fear that he would do something stupid, though he wasn't sure what. 

"Holster?" Ransom asked, looking concerned now, his hand landed on Holster's shoulder and the taller boy shook himself out of his funk. 

"Sorry." He muttered, "I'm good, man. Let's skate." They both headed back onto the ice. The coaches hadn't come out into the rink yet, so Jack gathered everyone up and started giving instructions. When he was done he directed their attention to Ransom. 

"That's my baby girl, Jemma, over there." Ransom said, pointing to Jemma in her carrier. She waved a tiny fist at an opportune moment. "If any of you hit the boards over there and scare her, I will kill you painfully." 

"If anyone has any negative commentary, invasive questions or anything less than positive to say about Jemma Oluransi, they can kindly keep it to themselves. I don't want my best D-men getting thrown off the team for murdering their own teammates. Thank you." Jack said. Everyone nodded. A lot of the guys stopped to clap Ransom on the back and say congrats. 

"Who's the mom?" One of the frogs asked. 

"What did Jack say about invasive questions?" Holster interjected at the sametime Ransom murmured. "She died."

"Oh, fuck. Sorry, dude." 

"You couldn't know, thank you." Ransom answered, skating away. Holster wondered how shaken up Ransom wss about Rachel herself, it was hard to tell. He hadn't thought their breakup had gone over badly, Rans hadn't really seemed to be all that into her, but still they had been together and now she was dead. It would make sense for Ransom to be upset. Holster tried not to think about it. He watched as Ransom swung past where Jemma sat, waving at her. A lot of the other guys were doing the same thing, waving and making faces. Bitty did some sort of spinning jump in front of her and she grinned. 

"Bittle if I see your skates leave ice simultaneously again, I'm putting you on the bench." Jack called but he was smiling. 

"It was a double toe loop, it's not like it was hard. I haven't flubbed that up since I was a kid." Bitty objected. 

"In figure skates." Jack reminded him, "You are in hockey skates and pads. I will not let you hurt yourself." 

"Worry wart." Bitty called at him. Jack rolled his eyes and called everyone else to order. Once the coaches got there, they started practice in earnest. Coach Murray and Hall didn't seem to notice Jemma yet and Ransom was happy to keep it that way. He was playing well. He hadn't expected that. He had expected to be distracted. Part of his focus was constantly on the corner of the rink where he knew his daughter was sitting, ears on alert for any sign that she is going to cry, but still he's got a deadly focus on the ice. He won't play badly for his daughter, even if she doesn't understand. 

Everything was going well until Ransom heard the beginnings of a cry. He didn't even think before skating away from practice and over to the boards right in front of Jemma. She focused on him. He took his helmet off and waved at her. She focused in on his face. 

"It's okay, darling, Daddy's here." he told her with a smile. "Daddy loves you." 

"What the hell is going on here Oluransi?!" Coach Hall shouted. Ransom whirled around. 

"Sorry, coach!" He yelped. "I just... I hate to hear her cry." 

"Who is she?!" Coach Murray sounded close to breaking point. 

"My daughter. Sorry, coach, I was gonna talk to you after practice. Jemma is my daughter, her grandparents dropped her off yesterday. Her mother died during childbirth due to a medical condition. She never told me that she was pregnant. Jemma's grandparents hate both Jemma and I, so... yeah. I have a baby girl to take care of now. I swear I'll still be on top of my game. If you'll let me keep her here during practice and let me take her to away games I promise she won't be a problem. I won't miss a game or a practice. I can't get kicked off the team. I can't lose my scholarship." 

"You have a kid Oluransi?" Coach Hall asked, looking dumbstruck. His voice was soft now. 

"Yeah, I do. She's three months old. I haven't figured it all out yet. I've only had her for a day, but I'll make it work." Ransom promised again. 

"God, Oluransi... just talk to me after practice, okay Justin? We'll figure it out." Coach said at last. "For now, everyone just get back to practice. I'll handle the baby." To the surprise of the whole team he scooped Jemma out of her seat and held her easily, bouncing her lightly as he continued to coach. The only recognition that he had a baby in his arms was a lowering of his voice. Ransom smiled at Jemma one more time to make sure she wasn't going to cry, before skating off to rejoin practice.

After practice while the rest of the guys cleared out, a bunch of them shooting Ransom sympathetic looks as they went, Ransom and Holster hung back. 

"Birkholtz-" Coach Hall started. 

"As self-appointed second parent to this child I'm staying right where I am." Holster told him before his coach could tell him to leave. Hall clenched his jaw but eventually just nodded. 

"So..." he started, looking awkward. "You have a daughter." 

"Yes, I do." Ransom agreed. "I wasn't aware of this until yesterday. It's been a difficult twenty-four hours." 

"No kidding. How you holding up?" Their coach asked, looking sympathetic. Ransom shrugged, but his shoulders were tense. 

"I'm very stressed, afraid, and very tired." He said simply. Coach Hall nodded, grimacing. 

"Yeah, I know how that goes. Having your first kid... it's the most terrifying thing in the world, and I had nine months to get ready for it. I can't imagine just having that dropped on me." Hall muttered. 

"You aren't helping, Coach." Holster pointed out. The coach startled and cleared his throat. 

"Right, sorry about that. So we need a game plan. You boys are planning on raising this girl together?" He asked. They exchanged a look, then answered in unison. 

"Yes." 

"Right, I knew you boys were close but I didn't realize... well it doesn't matter, good for you." Coach Hall muttered awkwardly. "Anyway, how are we going to work this out? I need both of you to stay on the team. We can't afford to lose you, and I know you can't afford to not play. Just calling it like it is. Are you going to have enough money to take care of your daughter, first of all?" 

"Between the two of us we should be fine to buy her formula and diapers and stuff." Holster answered. Coach Hall nodded. 

"Good. Now what are you going to do with her during the day? I don't suppose daycare is in the cards? Too expensive right?" He asked. They both nodded. Holster had looked it up the night before. Neither of them was really struggling, Ransom's family was well off and Holster wasn't much worse, but they were still college students not their parents and baby stuff was more expensive than it had any right to be.

“Well, you’ll have to ask each of them individually of course but most professors are going to let you take her to class with you as long as she doesn’t cry too much.” Coach Hall said, looking thoughtful. "I'll put in a good word for you if you need."

"Thanks, Coach." Ransom agreed. "I really appreciate the support." 

"Of course, Justin." Coach Hall agreed. You have permission to bring her to practices, she looked like she was doing alright and Coach Murray and I can watch her while you're on the ice. You can also bring her to our games, if we can find someone to watch her in games. We can work around this boys." He said brightly. 

"We're going to try Coach." Ransom agreed. He nodded. 

"Good luck, and Congratulations I guess. She is a beautiful little girl." He said at last. They took that as their cue to leave. 

"Thanks." Both of them muttered before gathering up Jemma and all her stuff and heading back to the Haus. They had to get ready for class. 

"So... I think Coach Hall thinks we're a couple now." Ransom said as they walked. Holster nodded.

"Yeah." He agreed, "It sounded like it." Ransom paused and looked at Holster oddly. 

"You noticed and you still didn't correct him?" He asked, obviously surprised. 

"Yeah, didn't seem worth it. We're going to get that a lot in the future, raising a kid together." Holster said, avoiding looking at Ransom. He didn't want to think about why he didn't mind the assumption. He was not going to analyze his feelings on this matter. He had a bad feeling it would get way more complicated than he had time to deal with at the moment. 

"You don't have to you know.” Ransom muttered, “She’s my daughter. She’s not actually connected to you in any way, you don’t have to help me raise her.” Holster couldn’t hide how much that hurt. 

“Do you not want me to?” He asked, “I mean, I’d understand if you don’t want me to raise her with you. Makes more sense to be a single dad, than raise a kid with your best friend. She doesn’t need a second dad and all that, I’m happy to back off and just help however much you want me to. I know she isn’t mine…” He said and he knew he was rambling a little, and he was talking too fast, but he couldn’t help it. 

“What? Dude no!” Ransom exclaimed, “There is no one else in the world I’d rather raise her with, Holtzy. I just don’t want you to feel obligated to basically adopt a kid, just because we live together. I didn’t want to force you into anything you don’t have to do.” 

“Don’t be ridiculous, bro.” Holster told him, “Jems is the most adorable baby in the world, and she is your daughter. Rans, I want to do this. I was just worried you wouldn’t want me to. I mean, it could get a bit complicated later on if we end up in different places and then Jemma has to deal with her two parents living apart from each other, and if you end up getting married it’d be even worse…” 

“I don’t care.” Ransom answered, sounding deadly serious. “Look, Hols- Adam, if you’re actually all in on this I don't care about the rest of it. I want my daughter to have two parents who love her, and will always love her. If you're signing up to be the other half of that…” He paused searching for the right words. “Adam Birkholtz, I want you to be my daughter’s second father.” He said at last, sounding more awkward than Holster had ever known him to be when it was just the two of them.

“Thank god for that.” Holster said with a grin. “Because I want to be her second father. I’m in, one-hundred percent. We’ll figure the rest of it out.” 

"S'awesome." Ransom said with a grin, "Thanks dude."

"No problem." Holster agreed, and he wasn't lying. He knew he had just signed on for at least eighteen years of responsibilities, that he had just complicated his life more than he ever could have imagined, but he didn't really care, he wanted this. “So what should she call me?” He asked. 

“I have dibs on Daddy, don’t I Jemma?” Ransom said, looking down at her. “What should we call your second daddy? Maybe we’ll just call him Mommy.” He suggested, laughing.

“Oh no you don’t!” Holster protested. He couldn’t help grinning though. They bickered about name rights all the way back to the Haus. By the time they got there the other guys had already started organizing a schedule for babysitting Jemma while Ransom and Holster couldn't watch her. It was going to work out. They were going to take care of their daughter. Their daughter. Holster couldn’t seem the words from running around his head on repeat.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A disagreement
> 
> Okay so it's a small disagreement in a short fluffy chapter...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short chapter to move along a little bit. Also I keep trying to write in problems and fights and then it goes straight back to fluff which is the opposite of my normal problem in which I write nothing but angst, so I'm just going to roll with this for the time being.

They made it through the end of the week easily enough. By the end of it Holster was more exhausted than he had ever been, and it had only been a few days. Rans was even worse though, so he couldn't bring himself to complain. He knew Ransom was freaking out but there were some issues that had to be addressed. 

"You have to tell your parents!" He said for what felt like the millionth time. Ransom grimaced. 

"I'm an adult, I actually don't." He muttered. Holster sighed, bouncing Jemma on his hip patiently. 

"They have a right to know that they have a granddaughter, and you do still live with them." He reminded his friend. 

"I don't have to live with them. Besides, have you told your parents?!" Ransom demanded. 

"You don't have the money to get your own place, you have a baby! And what I tell my parents isn't relevant."

"Not relevant?! I'm sorry what happened to you being in this one-hundred percent?" Ransom snapped back. 

"I am in this one-hundred percent, and don't shout, you'll upset her." Holster answered. 

"If you are in this a hundred percent, as her secondary parent then your parents have as much a right to know as mine."

"It’s not the same!" Holster hissed, "You said it yourself, she's your daughter, even if I help raise her she's not mine, not really. I'm just her dad's best friend." He said, trying not to let his face show how much that hurt. He wasn't even sure why it hurt as badly as it did. He missed the matching look on Ransom's face. 

"I will tell them, I just need some time, Adam okay? Neither of us were going to go home for Thanksgiving anyway. I'll tell them before Christmas." Holster stopped fighting when Ransom said his real name, they never used their proper names unless shit was really serious. Still he wasn’t happy. 

"Fine." Holster agreed, "I'm not your keeper." 

"No, you're not." Ransom agreed, "Will you give me Jemma?" He said it like a question but it wasn’t. Holster handed her over silently, feeling like it was ripping his heart out. He spent a while in the kitchen, attempting to study while Bitty baked. It didn't go very well. Finally, looking at his watch he realized Jemma needed a bottle. So he made one up and headed back up towards their room. He still wasn't sure he wanted to talk to Rans yet, but Jemma would be hungry. As he started up the stairs to the attic he heard Ransom's voice. 

"It's okay, Jems, your Papa is just being difficult, but he loves you." He told her. "He doesn't get it does he? I can't handle... we aren't going to let anyone abandon you again, okay sweetheart." Holster froze. He felt like an idiot. Of course Ransom didn't want to tell his parents about his illegitimate daughter, he was terrified that his own parents would react in the same way as Rachel's. He knocked gently on the door before going in. 

"Rans....?" He asked. 

"What?" Ransom asked, looking a little off kilter still. Holster offered him the bottle. 

"I'm sorry, dude." He muttered. "But you've gotta know your parents would never... they love you to death, Rans, and they will adore Jemma." He said. 

"You heard that?" Ransom asked. Holster nodded. "Yeah, I mean... I know, but I can't really be positive you know? I just can't handle that right now. I've gotta get through this semester first." 

"I get it." Holster agreed, "And you know Jems will still have two sets of grandparents right? My parents will love her." He said. Ransom bit his lip. 

"Thanks." He muttered. Holster nodded. 

"So, Shitty says we have to go shopping for a proper crib and shit this weekend before someone calls Child Protective Services on us." He said. Ransom sighed, and probably would have buried his face in his hands of they had not been full of Jemma. 

"Right. We can do this. We can." Ransom said at last, "We just have to make people believe that a hockey frat house is somehow an acceptable environment for an infant." 

"It's not that bad, Rans." Holster told him, "Come on, Bitty, Jack and the others are gonna help us baby proof." 

"Yeah, it's gonna be okay. We've got this."

"We're together on this one, bro." Holster promised. Ransom nodded. 

"Thanks." He murmured. 

"No problem." Holster told him, then he grinned. "So, Papa huh?" He asked. Ransom shrugged. 

"I thought it might work. What do you think?" Ransom asked. Holster grinned. 

“It’s perfect.” He said, reaching for Jemma now that she was done eating. “Isn’t it, Jemma. I’m your Papa.” He said brightly. They sat together and played with Jemma happily for a few minutes, forgetting about everything else. 

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Neither of them even thought of the still open door and their voices carrying down the stairs. Down in the hallway beneath them Shitty, Jack, and Bitty stood, listening with exasperated expressions. 

“How have those two not fucked yet?” Shitty asked. “I swear to god, they’re going to be living together in a house, sleeping in the same bed, with a five year old daughter who calls one of them Daddy and the other one Papa before they realize that they’re married.” 

“Just because they’re close doesn’t mean they’re going to end up a couple.” Jack muttered. Shitty ran his hands through his hair with a sigh, tugging on it. 

“Hopeless. You’re all fucking hopeless.” He muttered, slamming his door as he walked into his room. Bitty and Jack stood in the hallway together awkwardly for a second before they each hurried towards their own respective rooms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope it wasn't too cheesy! Also I'll get a longer chapter out soon I swear, college is just kicking my ass right now.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ransom Holster and Jemma go shopping for Baby stuff as Thanksgiving break begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you like this chapter, there will be more plot to this eventually but finals are approaching like a freight train and I am standing on the tracks so I'm just trying to put up whatever I can for the time being and truly focus on this after the 3rd of May at which point I will be free.
> 
> Also I now have a Beta, so thank goodness for that! Many thanks to her, she's the absolute best!

A lot of the guys had elected to stay at Samwell over thanksgiving break. Bitty was, as was Jack, but Shitty was reluctantly being dragged home, though he made them swear to call him if they needed anything regarding Jemma. Chowder was going home, though he kept apologizing for it. Dex and Nursey were both staying as well, and Shitty offered them his room for the break. It had taken a while to convince them to share it but they had more or less come around. They had decided to trade off who actually got the bed. 

First day of break Ransom and Holster got Jemma ready, strapped her in her car seat in Holster's car. They drove out to the nearest Target. Holster helped Ransom strap Jemma to his chest, but insisted upon carrying her diaper bag himself. Once upon a time he might have been ashamed of the polka dot bag slung over his shoulders, but everything had shifted over the past couple of days. He didn’t give a single fuck what he looked like to other people right now, he was responsible for taking care of Jemma and he was going to do it as well as he possibly could. He was damn proud of that. 

“Okay, what’s on our list?” Ransom asked once they entered the store and reached the baby section. Holster pulled the list out of his bag. 

“We need: a stroller, a crib, more bottles, more formula, more diapers, and toys.” He read off. Ransom nodded. They found an aisle of strollers. Holster stared down the line of them feeling suddenly in way over his head. He had no idea what constituted a good stroller. He didn’t know what made for a good crib. He didn’t know how to be a father. He glanced over at Ransom and saw the same lost panicky expression on his face. 

“Can I help you two with something?” A young woman asked from behind them. Holster and Ransom turned to her with matching expressions of relief. 

“Yeah, we’ve got to get a stroller and a crib and all that stuff.” Ransom answered, “I’ve got to make sure that our place is approved by CPS and all that.” 

“Which isn’t easy since we live in a frat house.” Holster muttered. The girl looked taken aback. They both sighed. 

“It’s a long story.” Holster told her. "But let's just say we've only had custody of our daughter for under a week." 

"Oh, well we'd better make sure you've got everything you need to look after her!" The girl enthused. Holster was hardly listening to her, his attention had snapped to Ransom at the words our daughter. "So what did you have in mind?" The girl was asking. 

"Um, for a stroller it can't be too big or heavy, something easy to transport. Not too expensive either. We're still in college so we don't have much room or money, unfortunately." Ransom answered. She nodded. 

"Alright, well this right here." She said gesturing to a particular stroller, "Is a really versatile stroller, small easy to maneuver and most importantly not ridiculously expensive. It's not our cheapest one, which is over there, but honestly that thing is a piece of crap." She added sounding apologetic. Holster took hold of the handle of the stroller she had pointed out, pushing and pulling it here and there and lifting it up temporarily to see how heavy it was. 

"Looks good to me." He said, "Rans? What do you think?" He asked. Ransom shrugged a little, as well as he could without jostling Jemma too much. 

"Yeah, good." He agreed. The girl nodded and loaded a still packaged stroller onto a cart. 

"Awesome, you need a crib too?" She asked leading the way. They followed her. 

"All our cribs are safe and all that, they'll all do the job, really the main differences are appearance and special features." She told them, "Does your little girl have trouble getting to sleep?" She asked, smiling down at Jemma who was happily kicking against Ransom's chest. He played with her feet affectionately. 

"Not really, no." He answered, "She's such a well behaved baby." 

"Frickin angel to be honest." Holster agreed, "We got lucky. If her mom's genetics hadn't been stronger than yours we'd have been screwed." He chirped. Ransom laughed. 

"Rachel was a good egg." He agreed, and there was something odd about his face when he said it. Again it occurred to Holster that maybe Ransom had cared more about Rachel than it had seemed. "But really you're lucky my genetics were the other half if it had been you then we would never get any rest." Ransom continued, looking normal again. Holster laughed. 

"You've never said a truer word bro." He agreed. Ransom laughed with him. The shop girl, whose name, Holster noticed now that he looked, was Natalie, giggled. 

“You two are adorable." She said brightly, "What's your little girl's name? She's just the cutest thing." 

"Thank you!" Ransom said brightly. 

"Her name is Jemma." Holster added. "Doesn't she look just like her Daddy?" 

"She does, but don't worry I'm sure she'll take after you too, nurture means just as much as nature." Natalie enthused. Holster laughed, expecting Ransom to chirp him for it. 

"She'd better take after her Papa." Ransom said with a grin. Holster blushed and found himself incapable of response. 

"You two are so cute!" Natalie practically squealed, "Come on, let me show you this crib, I think you'll love it." She added, dragging them both along. Holster felt a little like he had missed a step going down the stairs. Natalie clearly thought they were a couple, and all Ransom was doing was blushing and smiling and thanking her. Holster knew they hadn't argued with coach, that they knew people would assume they were together all the time, but this seemed... it seemed like Rans was proud. Of Jemma a voice in his head reminded him, Ransom is proud of Jemma not you. It didn't make any sense that Ransom would be proud of being with Holster. They weren't a couple. 

"Holtzy, what do think?" Ransom asked, gesturing to a crib. Holster jerked himself out of his thoughts and looked at the crib Ransom was standing by. 

"It looks perfect, Rans." He told him honestly. 

"Awesome, Natalie, we'll take this one." Ransom agreed. 

"Perfect! Anything else you need?" She asked. 

"We've just got to pick up some toys and other little stuff." Holster answered. 

"Okay, I'll take this stuff up to the front, just meet me up there when you have everything you need." Natalie told them, she took the cart and headed away. 

They went a little over the top with the toys, but Holster didn't care, when they reached the front desk he handed over his card. 

"Dude! You can't pay for all of this!" Ransom exclaimed. 

"Dude, you don't have any money in your account right now and you know it. I do. We have the next eighteen years at least to bicker about spending money on her." Holster objected.

“Yeah…” Ransom agreed, and for a second he looks broken and Holster can’t understand why, then the other boy smiles and he thinks he must have imagined it. They pack everything into the car (it barely fits) and drive back to campus.  
They both froze in the doorway when they walked into the Haus. The whole building was buzzing, but that wasn’t the strange thing. It was... clean; or at least in the process of becoming so. There were vacuums running and Dex was pushing a mop across the floor in the kitchen. Nursey and Jack were... 

"Are you throwing out the couch?!" Holster exclaimed. They set it down for a moment. 

"Bitty put his foot down." Nursey said with a sigh, "No green couch with a baby in the Haus." 

"He's upstairs, sanitizing everything he can reach." Jack observed. 

"He stuck plastic things in all the sockets." Dex called from the kitchen. 

"He's taking this baby proofing thing really seriously isn't he?" Ransom asked. 

"You know Bits." Jack said with a fond smile. "Come on Nurse, let's get this thing out here so we can move the new one in." He added, crouching to heave the couch back up. Nursey joined him, grumbling. 

"The team's really gone all out for us." Holster said with a smile. 

"Yeah." Ransom agreed, "For Jemma, anyway." He added starting to unstrap Jemma from his chest. Holster leaned down to kiss Jemma on the forehead before heading back towards the door. 

"I'll go get her stuff." He said with a smile. He found Jack and Nursey headed towards a couch, brown and soft and undeniably new. 

"Did you get a new couch?!" Holster exclaimed. Jack rolled his eyes at him. 

"I thought we'd covered this." He said. Holster shook his head. 

"Yeah I knew you were bringing in a different couch, but I figured it'd be another used beat up mess that was just slightly better than the green monstrosity, but that couch is new. Like you bought a brand new couch." He pointed out. Jack shrugged. 

"Yeah, I did." He agreed. 

"You can't just spend that much money on us, Jack." Holster protested. Jack shook his head. 

"Don't worry about it. We needed a new couch, I have the money, no worries. Besides, it's worth it, you should see how happy Bitty is." He added. Holster wanted to object but he knew Jack well enough to know that he was not going to feel even slightly guilty about this. Besides if the new couch made Bitty happy Jack undoubtedly thought it was the best thing he could possibly do. Jack was stupid about Bitty. 

"Thanks man." Holster muttered, rolling his eyes. He started unloading the car. After a while Ransom came out to help him. 

"Where's Jems?" Holster asked.

"With Bitty." Ransom answered with a small smile. "He's a good babysitter."

"Yeah, he is." Holster agreed. He glanced at Ransom, waiting. Rans wanted to ask him something, he could tell. Finally he got tired of waiting. "What?" He asked. 

"Natalie, in the shop..." Ransom said.

"She was nice, what about her?" Holster asked, confused. Natalie had been sweet. 

"She was cute," Ransom pointed out, "I saw her looking at you. If you'd told her, told her that we weren't a thing she would have been all over you. Why didn't you?" 

"I didn't... I didn't even think about it..." Holster answered, "Besides, the same could have been said for you." 

"I'm... I don't want to date anyone right now." Ransom muttered. "But if you don't start correcting people you're never gonna go on another date."

"I don't really care." Holster answered, "I mean, relationships are the last thing on my mind right now." He said, feeling like he was lying and not sure why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holster is my adorable oblivious son and I love him. He'll get there I promise.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys take Jemma to an away game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo... I'm done with half of my exams and I took a break to write you guys a couple chapters, because I have no self control. Anyway hope you enjoy, short but sweet. 
> 
> Again many thanks to my Beta. Faith, you're the best!

They were lucky for a while. They had home games for two weeks in a row after Thanksgiving. It wasn’t too big of a deal having Jemma there, not that different from practice. She’d always be just off the ice, with Lardo or the guys who weren’t playing looking after her. It had taken some time for the guys who didn’t live in the Haus to get used to Jemma. They had all been nearly afraid of her at first, as if they thought they could hurt her just by getting close. After a while though they had all warmed up to her and these days it was always a squabble before and after practice of who got to hold her. Ransom and Holster always mediating. Holster didn’t like to call them overprotective, but he knew that both of them were a little overprotective and he couldn’t help it. The other guys all respected that Ransom and Holster were Jemma’s parents. If they said to back off or hand over the baby, the rest of the team listened without question. Still, everyone loved Jemma to death. The whole team played harder when they knew she was there. Sure she was only a few months old and couldn’t possibly understand hockey, but they didn’t care, they would never lose in front of her. Coach Hall loved it. His team was playing better than ever, and even he had to admit Jemma was adorable. 

Their first away game was different. Holster found himself fussing ridiculously as they got ready to leave. 

"Do we have enough formula? Bottles?" He asked, hurrying around the room. 

"I don't know? How many diapers should we bring?" Ransom asked, scared. 

"I don't know!" Holster blustered completely lost. 

"Guys, you know you're fine. You know exactly what you need and you’ve already packed it up, trust me. Stop overthinking it.” Bitty called up the stairs from the second floor. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Holster agreed awkwardly, “Come on, Rans, we’ve gotta go.” he slung his bags and Jemma’s bag and one of Ransom’s over his shoulders. Then he helped to strap Jemma into her car seat. Ransom hoisted her up and they headed downstairs. They loaded her onto the bus with them. Ransom strapped her into the aisle seat next to him and Holster sat just across the way with an empty seat next to him with all of their baby stuff. Jemma didn't like the bus. She cried. 

"Justin, Adam, will you please try to get Jemma under control?" Coach Hall called from the front of this bus. 

"Jemma, darling, what's wrong?" Ransom asked sweetly picking her up. She continued to cry, though less ear shatteringly. 

"Oh, sweetheart, why're you crying?" Holster cooed at her leaning over the aisle. He took her hands, jiggling them lightly. "What's wrong? Is the bus too loud? Are all of us hockey players too loud for you?" He wasn't being particularly comforting, but he tickled her and played with her hands and feet as he talked to her and Ransom bounced her on his lap. It didn't take long for Jemma to stop crying. They could always get her to stop crying, no one else could. 

"You two make me reconsider parenthood sometimes." Lardo said, shaking her head. 

"Really?" Shitty asked, looking at her in surprise, something odd in his eyes. 

"Well, adoption obviously, I'm not shoving a living parasite out of my vagina. However if I find a nice orphan baby or something later on in life... you never know..." she said. "Maybe."

"Holy shit, I think your daughter is fucking with the universe." Nursey said, looking between Lardo and Jemma in shock. The whole team knew that Lardo had professed to dislike children, though she took care of Jemma when they needed her to. Holster had caught her smiling and cooing at his baby girl more than once but he would never ruin her reputation by telling.

"Nah, she's just revealing what was always there." Holster told Nursey with a smile.

"It's so true it hurts." Shitty said in a pained voice, staring pointedly at Ransom and Holster. 

"Calm down, Shits, we'll get there." Jack murmured, pulling him back into his seat. 

The game started off okay. They left Jemma tucked into her seat carefully, on the bench with the guys who weren't playing. It was alright for the first few shifts. Then Jemma started to cry. Holster faltered, and he felt Ransom do it too. They both looked over at her. 

"Is that a baby?" The other team's players had noticed Jemma. 

"Focus on the ice, dipshit." Holster snapped at the guy who had spoken, but he wasn't concentrating himself. He noticed Coach Hall sweeping Jemma into his arms away from Dex, who had been holding her. 

"Birkholtz! Oluransi! Eyes on the puck!" He shouted. Holster tried to shake himself back into focus but Jemma's cries were like knives cutting into his chest. He knew, knew logically that she was fine but it didn't matter, it hurt. 

“Did your coach bring his baby into the rink? What the hell?” The guy laughed, “That can’t be good for the kid.” Ransom may have accidentally hit the guy a bit harder than was necessary. 

“Shut the fuck up about the baby!” Holster snapped. 

“Holy shit, she’s yours isn’t she?!” the guy exclaimed. Holster skated away, doing his best to ignore the guy. Except the bastard kept pushing. 

“Where’s her mom? Left your sorry ass?” He hissed. Holster would have let it go but Ransom was right there. He heard and he stiffened. Holster was going to kill him. He started to drop his gloves when Shitty hit his side. 

“Don’t start shit in front of Jemma. Let’s just win this shit.” He said. “Don’t get kicked out Holtzy. We need you here. Jems is fine, Rans is fine.” It wasn’t easy to accept but Holster turned away and focused back in on the game. Shit like that never got to him. Trash talk had always rolled off of him more easily than almost anyone on the team besides Shitty. Yet here he was nearly starting a fight on the ice just because some idiot had been talking shit about Jemma and her Mom. He wouldn’t let people say shit like that about his baby girl, about Rachel. Not when he could tell it upset Ransom. 

After that everyone was a bit more tense, they played viciously, like Holster’s attitude had spread. Or perhaps everyone else was just as pissed off as he was. When they won Holster didn’t even think about it, he just headed straight towards where Coach Hall was still holding Jemma. Ransom was right next to him. Holster tossed his helmet and gloves off before taking Jemma gently. He held her on his hip comfortably feeling calm for the first time since she had started crying. He smiled and looked up at Ransom, who was staring. 

“What?” Holster asked, grin fading just a bit. “Sorry, you should hold her I was just...” 

“Huh?” Ransom asked, sounding a little dazed, “No, no worries… I was just. It’s just odd to see you in hockey stuff with Jemma.” He said, looking away. Holster shrugged. There was something odd in the way Ransom was avoiding his gaze, but before he could ask they were surrounded by enthusiastic hockey players. The team was careful not to upset Jemma or crush her in the massive celly but they kept Ransom, Holster, and Jemma right in the middle of it. There were no doubts about how much the team loved their youngest member.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shitty is the captain of this ship I swear. He's trying so hard, poor Jack has to reign him in.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ransom and Holster discuss Christmas break, Snuggling happens, they nearly break Shitty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooh double update! I don't have exams to study for, shush....
> 
> Anyway this is really short and literally tooth rottingly fluffy, enjoy!

Holster was slouched on the couch doing nothing in particular when Ransom came back from class. He tossed his bag and Jemma’s onto the floor by the couch, where they landed on a rather expansive rug that Bitty had picked out and Jack had bought. He lifted Jemma out of her stroller carefully and sat down on the couch. Instead of sitting at the other end he just slumped straight over Holster, mostly lying down using the other boy as a pillow. He rested Jemma on his chest happily. Holster was struck, as he often was, by the shock and awe of being a part of this. He always felt damn near blessed that this was his; this boy, this incredible amazing man, his perfect daughter, they were Holster’s family these days. He still couldn’t get over it. 

It had been nearly a month since they had taken Jemma in. She was still perfect and adorable and amazing. He loved her more than he had thought it was possible to love anything. She was his daughter. If he had had any doubts that this arrangement would be temporary they had vanished sometime in the past several weeks. Any doubt he had that he would be this little girl’s father for the rest of his life had faded over hours spent with her, diapers changed, waking up in the middle of the night and not even caring that he had to do so. It had left him somewhere between sitting on the new brown couch feeding her, and taking her to classes with him. In fact he should have been the one to have taken her this afternoon, it was his turn. However, Holster’s Econ professor had been a douche about having Jemma in the classroom. They had discovered that almost all the professors were pretty cool about the baby as long as she didn’t cry continuously or disrupt class. Jemma didn’t cry very often and when she did, it was almost always a brief thing so it was never too much of a problem. Professor Lawson insisted that she was a disturbance though. It wasn’t his fault or Jemma’s that the stupid girls who sat behind him couldn’t stop cooing over his daughter. He hardly thought that he deserved to be punished over it but nonetheless Jemma had been banned from the Econ class. 

“Christmas break is coming up.” Ransom murmured. Holster nodded. 

“Yeah we’ve got to figure out where we’re going for break, don’t we?” He asked. Normally they would each go to their respective homes for Christmas and then maybe meet up at one or the other for new years or afterwards and then head back to school together but this wasn’t like other years. Holster wasn’t even going to consider the two of them splitting up for the holidays. He wasn’t going to abandon Ransom to take care of Jemma and face his family alone.

“I need to go home, I need to talk to my parents about all this. They need to meet Jemma.” Ransom said, sounding like he was saying I really need to jump off this cliff. 

“Yeah. It’s gonna be okay. We’ll definitely head to your place first, do Christmas with the Oluransis.” Holster agreed, “I’ll be right there with you, don’t worry.” He said. 

“Are you sure? I mean, I know how your mom gets about holidays and you weren’t there for Thanksgiving already. It’s totally okay if you want to go spend Christmas with your family.” 

“I am going to spend Christmas with my family. With you and Jemma. We’re a family here, Rans. Besides there is no way in hell that I am missing my daughter’s first Christmas.” Holster answered with a grin. He leaned over to kiss Jemma on the head. 

“Oh my god.” Shitty said having come into the room. He was staring at them. “I just… I can’t…. How are you not-” Jack came through and hooked an arm through Shitty’s dragging him out of the room without a word. 

“I worry about him sometimes.” Holster muttered. He could just barely hear Shitty protesting from the other room.

“But how can they not even see it?!” 

“I thought we agreed a long time ago that we couldn’t attempt to understand Shitty.” Ransom reminded Holster. He nodded. 

“Yeah, that’s true.” he agreed. He let himself relax into the couch, with Ransom leaning against him and the soft sounds of Jemma breathing, he felt more comfortable than he could imagine. He drifted off without realizing it. 

When Holster woke up, Ransom was asleep in his lap, and Jemma was asleep on Ransom's chest. Holster's breath caught at the sight of them. Seeing Jemma often did that to him, he couldn’t get over how perfect she was, but this was different. Ransom was… He so rarely saw Ransom without the lines of stress and worry on his face, but when he was asleep he looked so calm. He was so peaceful, fondness welled up in Holster's chest. This boy, this man, god he was the most important person in Holster's life, his best friend. He couldn’t remember what it had been like before he had Ransom in his life and he couldn’t imagine life without him. He knew that he had jumped into a whole new place in life when he had decided to raise Jemma with Ransom, but he hadn’t really had time to think about what it would mean. He thought that he might want to stop putting off thinking about it sometime soon, but right now he really really needed to pee. He shifted slightly, a wary eye on Jemma. 

"Hey." He hissed in the best shout whisper he could manage. "Anybody around?" He heard light distinctively bouncy footsteps. 

"What's up Holster?" Bitty asked in a whisper. 

"Could you get Jemma? I need to get up, Rans sleeps like a rock I won't wake him, but if he just drops Jems is gonna wake up and she’s always grumpy as hell if you wake her before she’s ready.” Holster answered. Bitty grinned and ever so carefully lifted Jemma from Ransom’s chest. Holster edged out from under Ransom, being careful to set his head gently on a pillow instead of just letting it drop to the couch. 

“Thanks, Bits, you’re the best.” He said with a grin before basically running to the bathroom. He would figure out what the hell that moment had been later. It was nearly the end of the semester after all. They had break to look forwards to… or not depending on how their families were going to react.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos bring me hope and joy in these dark times of exams and shit
> 
> Next up: Christmas at the Oluransi household!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ransom, Holster, and Jemma arrive at the Oluransi residence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm done with exams, folks, so have a happy post exams chapter! I know it's late in the day but I needed to get this out to you guys. I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> This doesn't even get to Christmas yet, so there will be another chapter in the Oluransi household after this!

"This is a horrible idea, I've changed my mind, let's just go hide in the Haus for the holidays." Ransom muttered. He was sitting in Holster's car, which was sitting in his parents' driveway, and he was obviously freaking out. 

"It's gonna be fine, Rans." Holster promised putting a hand on Ransom's shoulder and squeezing reassuringly. 

"You can't know that." Ransom answered. 

"Hey, they're your family, and chances are they've spotted us now. Plus we just drove all the way to Canada and Jemma’s going to be hungry soon.” Holster answered. That was a low blow and he knew it but Ransom would always put Jemma first. Making plans to get here hadn’t been particularly fun. Ransom had called his family and said he was bringing Holster with him, and that he had news, but he hadn’t told his parents about Jemma yet. It was face-to-face kind of news. Holster in turn had called his mother to tell her that he would be at Ransom’s for Christmas. He remembered the conversation with a grimace. 

"You aren't coming home?" His mother had asked in a broken disappointed voice. 

"I am, just not until the day after Christmas. I'm sorry mom, it's hard to explain but Ransom really needs me right now. I'll tell you everything when we come for New Years." 

"Justin is coming too?" She asked. 

"Yeah, it's... god it's so complicated Mom. I'm sorry I'm missing Christmas just..."

"Honey, you know we accept you no matter who you love, right? If you want to spend Christmas with your boyfriend's family you can just say that." His mom murmured. 

"What? Mom no, it's not like that. We're not- Justin isn't my boyfriend, Mom he's my best friend. He just needs my help right now. There's some... family drama." 

"Well I don't know what his family is like, but you know we love Justin and accept him no matter what, if his family isn't accepting he always has a place here." 

"Mom! We aren't together! This isn't about being gay or something, in fact very much not. Listen, I'll explain when I get home. I love you, tell dad, Emily, and Lauren that I love them. Have a wonderful Christmas. I'll talk to you later " Holster had hissed hurriedly, barely giving his mother time to squeak out a love you! Before he hung up. He was glad his mom was so accepting but he couldn't handle that conversation. He hadn't talked to her or any of his family since despite the endless calls. Now he was sitting in his car with his daughter in the back and her terrified father next to him. 

"Come on, Ransom. We'd better get this over with." Holster said, climbing out of the car. He left their bags where they were and unbuckled Jemma from her carseat. He wanted more than anything to just hang onto her for the comfort she provided but Ransom was going to need her a hell of a lot more. 

"You should take her." He told Ransom, lifting Jemma into his arms gently. Ransom nodded. He held Jemma close, and together they walked to the front door. Holster knocked. It was Ransom's younger sister, Lyla, who opened the door. 

"Justin!" She exclaimed happily, then her eyes went wide. "Who is that?!" She asked. 

"Hey, Lyla. It's so good to see you. This is Jemma." He said stepping inside. Holster followed him. 

"Lyla, it's great to see you." He greeted with a smile. 

"Adam!" She said with a grin. "What's going on guys?" 

"We'll tell you in a minute. Where are mom and dad?" Ransom answered. 

"Mom! Dad! Justin's home!" Lyla shouted. Seconds later Mrs. Oluransi emerged from the kitchen just as Mr. Oluransi descended the stairs. 

"Justin!" His mother started and then froze. Ransom gritted his teeth. 

"Mom, Dad... this is Jemma, my daughter." He said at last. Everyone was frozen, staring at them in disbelief. 

"What do you mean, love?" His mother asked. 

"I mean, I had a girlfriend last year. Birth control failed us, and she got pregnant, she didn't tell me, dropped out of school. Her parents made her keep the baby but she had a weak heart. Childbirth killed her. Her name was Rachel Williams, her parents kept Jemma for three months without telling me about her, then they dropped her off and said they couldn't raise the child who killed their daughter. So they left her with me, on November 18th. We've been raising her since, I didn't know how to tell you guys..." Ransom told them, with shaking hands and shaking voice. 

"Oh, baby," his mother murmured, "Darling..." she stepped forward and hugged her son. 

"Careful, mom. Watch Jemma." He told her pulling back a little. 

"I know, I'm sorry." His mom agreed. Mr. Oluransi had come over. 

"She's really yours?" He asked. 

"Yeah. She really is." Ransom agreed. 

"Did you say We have been raising her?" Lyla asked before her parents could say anything else. "Who is we?" Ransom looked down, biting his lip. 

"We is Justin and I." Holster said for him, "We've been taking care of her together." 

"Like together together are you two finally a thing?" Lyla exclaimed happily. "Because I-" she was cut off by a quick shake of the head from Ransom. 

"It's not like that." He hissed. He was blushing. Holster had become adept at noticing Ransom's blushes despite his darker skin. 

"Oh." Lyla sounded heartbroken and she was looking at them like someone who had managed to jump into Romeo and Juliet but already knew the ending. In other words, with pity, sadness, and a bit of frustration. 

"It's so good of you to help out, Adam-" Mrs Oluransi started. 

"No." Ransom cut her off. "Holster isn't just helping me mom. He's every bit as much Jemma's parent as I am, we're doing this together." He corrected. Holster felt the blush on his cheeks but couldn't help it any more than the rush of pride and affection in his chest. 

"Let me get this straight. You and your best friend are co-parenting a child, but you are not romantically involved?" Ransom's father asked. Ransom nodded. 

"That is correct." He agreed nervously. 

"Well... I can't say I was expecting to get a granddaughter for Christmas, or a son-in-law and don't argue about the title I have no idea what else to call the other father of my granddaughter. But I'm certainly glad to have both." Mr Oluransi said. 

"Really?" Ransom asked, sounding broken. Holster didn't have to ask, he took Jemma from Ransom's arms gently. Ransom rushed forward and hugged his father. "Thank you!" He murmured.

"Hey, Jems, you're alright. Papa's got you." Holster murmured to Jemma. 

"Could I hold her?" Mrs. Oluransi asked, Holster nodded.

"Of course," he agreed, "This nice woman here is your Grandmother, Jemma." He murmured to his daughter as he handed her over.

"Aww, aren't you just the cutest little girl?" She cooed. "What's her full name?" She asked Holster. 

"Jemma Rose Oluransi." Holster answered, "Rachel’s last name was Williams, but her parents were less than wonderful, so she named Jems after Justin. It's a beautiful name, for the most beautiful little girl in the world." 

"You really think of her as a daughter?" She asked. 

"Of course. No offense, I know you're her real family Mrs. Oluransi, but she's my baby girl." He answered. 

"Adam, darling, of course I don't take offense, and please, call me mom or Sarah." She said kindly. 

"Thanks Sarah." He said, trying not to be awkward. Mr. Oluransi, or Henry, he supposed, came over as well; cooing at Jemma. Lyla stared in something like shock at Ransom and Holster who were standing side by side, every inch the proud parents. 

“I’m an aunt?” Lyla asked. Ransom nodded. “I’m only sixteen! I have a niece, jesus.” She exclaimed. She joined her parents in adoring Jemma. The youngest Oluransi, however, started to fuss a bit. 

“Holtzy, get her while I get her stuff.” Ransom said, already heading towards the front door. Holster took Jemma back from Sarah, bouncing her gently. 

“It’s alright love, your daddy’s getting food for you.” he promised. She didn't start crying but she wasn't happy. "She's a sweetheart most of the time but she’s not shy about making sure you know if she’s hungry.” He told the Oluransis with a smile. 

“She sleeps like a little princess though, only wakes up once a night or so, sometimes twice, but never anything awful.” Ransom added coming back inside. Holster nodded in agreement as Ransom headed into the kitchen. 

“She’s such a beautiful child, Justin.” His mother said to him, “How have you two been holding up over the past month? I can’t believe you didn’t tell me I was a grandmother!” 

“We’ve been alright. Most professors are cool with us bringing her to class as long as she isn’t a disruption, and she isn’t. Coach Hall loves her, and looks after her during practice when he needs to, and everyone pitches in at games and other times.” Ransom answered, voice raised so he could be heard from the kitchen. 

“The whole team has been really supportive. The guys who live in the Haus with us are the best. They helped us baby-proof the place, got a new couch and rugs and cleaned everything up.” Holster said with a grin. There hadn’t been a single party in the Haus since they had gotten Jemma and no one had said a word in opposition to it. 

“You’ve been raising your daughter in that… frat house?” Mrs. Oluransi asked, obviously trying not to sound judgemental and failing. 

“Well, it’s where we live, so yeah.” Holster answered. Mrs Oluransi hummed under her breath. Something tightened in Holster's chest, this was not a good sign. "She's got a whole team of Hockey players doting on her all time, if there's one thing our little girl doesn't lack it's attention. You should have seen all her Christmas presents." He said, trying to salvage the moment despite the disapproving stare she was holding. 

It was true that the team had gone a bit overboard. Every single one of them had ended up getting Jemma a christmas gift. A rattle from Nursey, books for them to read to her from Jack. Shitty had given her a soft blanket, and Chowder had provided her with her own tiny Samwell hoodie. Dex had handed over a tiny hand knitted hat, which he wouldn't admit to making himself. Lardo had presented them with a handmade mobile to hang over her crib. It was beautiful, and featured hockey sticks and snowflakes and something that looked a lot like the Stanley cup. Holster loved it. Their baby girl was going to grow up next to the ice for the first two-ish years of her life. It seemed fitting. Bitty had given Jemma a stuffed rabbit, which she adored and hadn't let go of until she fell asleep in the car. Holster reminded himself to grab it for her in a minute. Overall, they had ended up with more toys than they knew what to do with. 

"Here we are darling." Ransom said coming back into the living room with a bottle in one hand and a stuffed rabbit in the other. 

"You read my mind, Rans." Holster said, nodding towards the bunny. 

"Yeah I thought she’d like to have him.” Ransom agreed, “Here.” He offered Holster the bottle. Holster sat down on the couch to feed Jemma and Ransom sat next to him, tucking the bunny next to Holster. 

“Well that is a sight…” Sarah Oluransi murmured. “God, the family is going to be here tonight, I don’t know what I’m going to say…” 

“I was planning on saying ‘Our son accidentally knocked a girl up and didn’t know. This is his daughter and his hetero-hockey-life-partner.’ What do you think?” Mr. Oluransi said with a chuckle, “Are you sure you two aren’t a couple? It’d make life a hell of a lot simpler.” he added toward Ransom and Holster. 

“We aren’t.” Ransom said firmly, “Though the rest of the world seems to be convinced that we are.” 

“Well, it’s hard to argue with them when we are raising a child together, though I feel like the fact that you had a child with a woman should make it fairly obvious.” Holster said. Ransom grimaced but nodded. 

“Oh, Adam dear. My sister and her family are coming in tonight and I promised her the guest bedroom. Do you mind horribly if we just make up the couch for you?” Ransom’s mom asked. Holster frowned, confused.

“The couch?” he asked. 

“For you to sleep on for the time being, it’s not ideal but we don’t have a lot of room.” She answered. 

“Oh… yeah… of course.” Holster agreed, glancing over at Ransom who met his eyes with an understanding look. He hadn’t even considered where he would sleep he had just assumed… well he had assumed he would just share Ransom’s bed. He had assumed that he and Rans would be sleeping in the same place because they had been doing so for the past… he couldn’t remember. He couldn’t remember when Ransom had stopped pretending that he would be spending the night in the top bunk and just went to sleep curled next to Holster as a given. It hadn’t been that long after Jemma had arrived. After all it was just easier for them to get to her if no one had to climb up and down ladders to comfort their baby girl in the night. He hadn’t thought about it all that much, he had just gotten used to the warmth of Ransom curled into his side at night, gotten used to waking up as his friend carefully extracted his limbs from the tangle they inevitably became. 

“What about Jemma?” Lyla asked. 

“We brought her crib. It’s easy to disassemble. We’ll set it up in my room.” Ransom answered, and Holster thought he could hear an odd sort of strain to his voice like maybe his thoughts had been going in the same direction as Holster’s. They were seriously blurring the lines of normal friendship here, and Holster was pretty sure they both knew it. 

“Lyla, would you like to hold Jemma while we carry all our stuff in?” Holster asked. She nodded eagerly, accepting her niece from his arms. 

They settled their stuff in Ransom’s room and Mrs Oluransi helped Holster set up the couch for himself. He didn’t like the idea of sleeping so far away from Jems but he knew he didn’t have much of a choice. It wasn’t like they could say “Hey, no worries, we’ll just share we always do” and still expect Ransom’s family to believe that they weren’t a couple. Everything was alright until after dinner. No one had said anything awkward for a few hours which was practically miraculous. Ransom and Holster put Jemma to sleep before going back down to the living room. 

“I want to talk to you about Jemma.” Mrs Oluransi said. Ransom frowned. 

“We’ve done nothing but talk about Jemma. Not that I don’t love talking about her, but I don’t think that’s what you mean.” He said, sounding a bit defensive. 

“I just don’t like the idea of her in that frat house. And you have so much on your plate. You’re only twenty-one. I was just... Your father and I thought perhaps it would be better if we took care of Jemma for the time being.” She said. Her voice was timid but the words felt as cold and sharp as a knife to the gut.

“What?” Ransom asked, his own voice going cold and completely on guard. “Mom, no, what the hell?’ 

“Just for a few years until you’re in a more stable place in your life.” She answered, “Justin, honey, you’re a single college student and an athlete. Don’t you think it would be better for Jemma to grow up in a stable two parent household?” 

“Jemma has two parents.” Holster interjected, trying to keep the anger and fear out of his voice. His whole body felt cold with terror. He didn’t know what he would do if they took Jemma away. 

“Adam… I’m not trying to invalidate what you’re doing here. It’s so good of you… but you two don’t really know what you’re getting into. Being parents is a lot more than you think. It’s a huge thing, a lifetime commitment. Have you two thought about what you’re going to do after college? You’re going to graduate in a year and a half.” 

“She’s my daughter, Mom. Mine. I know exactly what that means, it means I’m going to spend the rest of my life putting Jemma before anything else in the entire world. It means I love her more than anything and you’ll never convince me that sending her away from her father is the best thing for her. She’s got two parents, and our entire team taking care of and loving her right now. After that, we’ll figure it out.” Ransom said. 

“Rans is going to med school,” Holster said, “Wherever he gets into school I’ll look for a job in the same area. Find a cheap place to live while Justin is still in school. We’ll probably have to put Jemma in daycare, or hire a nanny, but I should have the money for that.” he said. Ransom was staring at him. They hadn’t discussed plans after graduation so explicitly but it was implied. Holster couldn’t imagine anything else. 

“You intend to follow them?” Mr Oluransi asked. 

“Of course. I wasn’t kidding when I said I was going to be Jemma’s second father. I know what that means. It means I will be there, always, without fail, for her entire life. I will be there for her from now till forever.” Holster said, with more conviction than he knew he had in him. It was true. He felt a fire in his chest he hadn't' known he possessed, something fierce insisting that Jemma was theirs and he wouldn't let anyone take her away. 

"What happens if one of you finds someone? Falls in love?" Lyla asked, looking at Ransom with a look in her eyes that Holster couldn't interpret. 

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. People figure out all sorts of all situations. We'll figure ours out." Ransom answered. 

"Justin, I just don't want this to ruin your life." His mother said, looking a little desperate for him to understand. 

"She's my daughter, mom. She's the best thing in my life." Ransom said, shaking his head. “I know I didn’t plan this but I do want this.” He added pointedly. 

“I-” 

“Mom! Please stop. You aren't taking Jemma away from us. You might be my parents, and I know you want what's best for me, but we are Jemma's parents and we want what's best for her." 

"So do we, Justin. We're just worried that it's all too much. Being parents is a full time gig, so your mother thought that perhaps what would be best for her would be for Jemma to stay with us. We don't have to make that decision now though. You aren't leaving for a few days. We'll figure our plans out sometime before then." 

"Our plans are that we spend Christmas here, Holster's flying home the day after" this had been agreed upon to appease Mrs. Birkholtz. "Then I'll drive down with Jemma, to meet them for New years a few days later. Then we go back to the Haus, all three of us." Ransom said firmly. 

"Of course." Lyla said in stern agreement. Mrs. Oluransi looked unsure but her daughter glared her down. "Let it go mom." She ordered. There was an awkward silence and finally Holster stood up. 

"I'm gonna go check on Jems." He said hurriedly. 

"I'll come with you." Ransom agreed, shooting to his feet. They both hurried out of the room and upstairs to Ransom's room. 

"Well, that went about as well as we could hope. They love and accept you, Jemma and I... it could be a lot worse." Holster said quietly. Ransom sat down on his bed with a sigh. 

"She thinks we won't be good enough parents. She wants to take Jemma away. It could have been a hell of a lot better." He said. 

"She's not going to take Jemma away." Holster promised. 

"What if it would be better for her though?" Ransom asked, fear and anxiety sneaking into his voice. "When this all started I would have been grateful, glad, to take her up on it. I would have thought it was like a magical get out of jail free card. But now... I've never been more terrified of anything than I am of losing her." He confessed. 

"I feel the same way. I'm not going to let anyone take Jemma away from us Rans. We're in this together. You said it yourself, the best thing for her is to be with her fathers." Holster promised. He sat down next to Ransom, who leaned into his side. Holster wrapped a reassuring arm around him. They sat in companionable silence, just listening to their daughter's quiet breaths.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know where I'm going with this now, there will probably be somewhere between 7-10 more chapters of this. It's gonna be a bumpy ride my friends, try not to hate me for it.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More time with the Oluransi family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooh! Post ultra-marathon chapter. All of my muscles hurt more than they ever have and I'm probably not thinking super well so my apologies if this chapter is a mess.

Holster and Ransom decided not to tell Ransom's Aunt, Uncle and cousin about Jemma when they arrived, opting instead to tell everyone in the morning. Thankfully the excess Oluransis all went straight to sleep. Holster had checked in on Jemma and Ransom one last time before heading back into the living room. He collapsed onto the couch. He was dead tired... and he couldn't fall asleep. Uncomfortable damn couch. 

Holster barely got any sleep that night. Eventually he gave up trying to sleep early in the morning and headed upstairs. He reached Ransom’s room just as he heard Jemma start to cry. He picked her out of her crib easily and changed her diaper before putting her into a new onesie. It wasn’t until he turned around to head downstairs to feed her that he realized Ransom had woken up as well and was watching him quietly.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.” Holster murmured, “It’s early.” 

“It’s fine. I wasn’t really asleep anyway.” Ransom answered. “Did you sleep? You look like shit, Holst.” 

“I couldn’t get to sleep, your couch is mad uncomfortable, bro.” Holster answered with a chuckle. It didn’t make any sense though, he could sleep anywhere. 

“Sorry, dude. I'll sleep there from now on. You take my bed." Ransom told him. Holster shook his head. 

"Nah, I'm not kicking you out. We'll just share, it's stupid not to when you're bed here is so much bigger than ours at school." He answered, then paused. Ranson was blushing and staring at him and Holster wasn't sure why for a moment. He thought back over what he had said. Ours he realized. He had called his bunk at the Haus their bed collectively. He froze, waiting to see what Ransom would say. He didn't know if they were planning on talking about the awkwardness that was their sleeping arrangements lately. 

"Yeah.” Ransom agreed. “Sounds good.” Holster breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t think he could handle having that conversation today. 

"You should get up. Jemma has aunts and uncles to meet today." Holster said with a slightly forced smile. Ransom grimaced. 

"Right, we get to go through the whole thing again." He said, getting ready. 

As it turned out though Ransom's parents had already explained a little to the extra Oluransis. Ransom’s Aunt Melissa, Uncle Randy, and cousin Samuel were all staying with them for Christmas. Luckily, none of them were awake yet, it was still early. Ransom and Holster headed down into the quiet kitchen. Ransom started making breakfast for Jemma while Holster started cooking breakfast for everyone else. Bitty did most of the cooking in the Haus but Holster was more than capable of making pancakes and cooking sausages. Ransom sat at the table feeding Jemma while Holster cooked. There was a small yelp of surprise from the doorway. 

“Oh, what are you two doing up so early?” Sarah asked. 

“Sorry, mom. Jemma’s an early riser, we’ve both started waking up with her.” Ransom answered. 

“Of course. I nearly forgot. Oh, are you cooking, Adam?” She asked in surprise.

“Sorry to commandeer your kitchen, I thought everyone might appreciate breakfast.” Holster said apologetically, looking up from the stovetop. Mrs Oluransi laughed. 

“Darling, you do not need to apologize for making us breakfast.” She told him, “You just keep on I suppose, I’ll make coffee.” She added. Holser nodded and turned back to his pancakes. She made coffee and then stopped over by Ransom. 

“And how is this little princess this morning?” She asked, smiling down at Jemma. 

“She’s perfect.” Ransom answered. 

“Trick question, she’s always perfect.” Holster said, swooping by to kiss Jemma on the forehead. She giggled. 

“Oh, Just…” Lyla said from the doorway, looking pitying again. “Why are you doing this to yourself?” 

“Shut up, Lyla. We’re fine.” Ransom snapped back, looking distinctly uncomfortable. Holster frowned at him. He wasn’t sure what Lyla was talking about and he was worried that he didn’t want to know. 

“We’re going to talk about this.” Lyla threatened. 

“Sure. Later.” Ransom said forcefully. She sighed and left the room in a huff, her mother followed her with a worried cry. 

“Lyla, what on earth?” 

“Are we going to talk about that?” Holster asked, not looking up at Ransom. 

“No, there’s nothing to talk about.” Ransom answered, “Lyla’s just being dramatic. She thinks I’m messing my life up by doing this.” 

“Really, I didn’t think she was on your mom’s side there.” Holster said in surprise. 

“No, not because I’m keeping Jemma. She… she’s worried about me raising Jemma with you. Don’t get me wrong, she loves you Holst, she just… thinks that if we raise her together I’m never going to find someone to be with.” Ransom said, and now Holster was staring at him, and Ransom was pointedly not looking at him. 

“Why?” Holster asked. It wasn’t exactly what he wanted to ask but he couldn’t figure out exactly what he did want to ask. Ransom still wouldn't look at him and Holster couldn't seem to look away from him. 

"She just thinks that if we seem like a couple no one will be interested. It's awkward. Whatever, she's sixteen she doesn't get it." Ransom said. Holster laughed, and was surprised by how forced it was. 

"Yeah, you're right." He agreed, turning back to his griddle just in time to save the pancakes from burning. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everyone adored Jemma. Ransom’s family spent the whole day obsessing over her and playing with her. It left Ransom and Holster in the odd position of not really having anything to do as everyone was bickering over who got to feed her and hold her. They hovered for a while until Sarah shooed them both away scolding them for being paranoid. Ransom glanced at Holster with a shrug. 

“You wanna play video games?” He asked, sounding like he couldn’t quite believe they had time to do so. 

“Sure.” Holster agreed. They sat in the basement where the Oluransis had banished Ransom’s X-box. It was weird playing games and just hanging out without Jemma in sight. Not that they hadn’t had some time to themselves here and there throughout the time that they had been taking care of her. Bitty and Jack would babysit her sometimes to give them time to relax but usually that meant they ended up napping. Holster was a little tempted to go nap now, commandeer Ransom’s bed for a while and get some actual sleep but he figured they’d better take advantage of their chance for some bro time. After an hour or so just hanging out, though, Ransom paused the game, they both stood up without needing to talk about it. They needed to go check on their daughter. As they headed up the stairs Holster froze, Jemma was crying he hadn't heard it from the basement but as they got closer to the living room it got louder. Ransom and he both hurried up the rest of the stairs. As they reached the top Holster heard Sarah and Melissa Oluransi talking. 

"No, don't bother the boys, there's nothing they can do, she'll settle down eventually." Sarah was saying, "Give her to me, she needs a mother's touch." Ransom and Holster came into the room. 

"Give her to me." Ransom ordered, "She doesn't need a mother's touch, she needs her parents." He scooped Jemma out of his mother's arms and held her against his chest. 

"Rans and I are the only ones who can ever get her to stop crying when she does. She doesn't normally cry much though." Holster said. 

"Rans?" Samuel asked, confused. 

"Everyone on the team has a nickname. I'm Ransom, from Oluransi." Ransom said with a grin. 

"Adam Birkholtz translates to Holster. Feel free to call me that if you'd like. We also have Bitty, Lardo, Dex, Nursey, Chowder, and Shitty. No one knows his real name but it starts with a ‘B’" Holster added. 

"Hockey players are so weird." Samuel said, shaking his head. 

"You're in Canada, son. You don't want to say that too loud." Ransom’s dad said, clapping him on the back. 

Ransom had been bouncing Jemma in his arms. Holster was smiling at her, making faces at her and “chewing” on her fingers with his lips wrapped over his teeth to make her smile. He laughed. 

“You’d better run away, Jemma, darling, or your Papa’s going to eat you all up.” He teased her. She giggled. He grinned. 

“That’s right, sweetheart. It’s all okay.” He said, kissing her on the cheek. 

“There we are, darling.” Ransom said happily. 

“You two do that shockingly easily.” Sarah Oluransi said, looking surprised. 

“That’s because we’re her parents.” Ransom answered with a smile.

“I’m proud of you, dear…” Sarah said, “I thought that you two weren’t ready for this. I thought you had no idea what you’re doing. I think I may have been wrong.” She said. Ransom smiled at her properly for the first time since their argument the day before. 

“Thank you.” He said. Something in Holster’s chest relaxed for the first time since Sarah had suggested they leave Jemma with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not going to do an in depth chapter about Christmas, next chapter Holster goes home by himself to handle his family... He figures some things out... I hope you guys are as excited to read it as I am to write it!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holster goes home to catch up with his family and has an internal realization.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, a million thank yous to everyone who comments, I stopped replying to a lot of you because I'm a failure but I appreciate every single comment so much! 
> 
> Hope you like the chapter!

In the end Christmas was great. All the Oluransis had run out at the last minute to get presents for Jemma even though Ransom and Holster begged them not to. Jemma didn’t need anything else, and they barely had room for all of the stuff that they did have. No one listened to them. Jemma received even more presents from her extended family. Holster had called his family. It hadn’t been the most pleasant of conversations. His mother was not happy with him, but he still couldn’t figure out how to explain anything to them. He just promised them that he would be home first thing on the day after Christmas. So Holster found himself saying goodbye to Ransom and Jemma. He was not happy about it. 

“We’ll be there in two days.” Ransom promised, “I’ll take good care of your car on the way down.” 

“Just take good care of you and Jemma.” Holster said. He kissed Jemma on the head one last time. “Goodbye, sweetheart.” He murmured. 

“See you soon, Holtzy. Warn your parents.” Ransom said with a smile. Holster nodded at them and climbed into Ransom’s dad’s car. Mr. Oluransi was driving him to the airport. 

Holster napped on the plane ride home. He had no idea what he was going to say to his mother when she picked him up, so he did his best to ignore everything to do with it. Of course that meant that by the time he got to her, he had no idea what to say and was in complete panic mode. When his mom saw his face though, she just wrapped her arms around him and hissed. 

“We’ll talk about this later.” 

“I’ll explain, Mom, I promise.” He swore to her.

"You tell me when you can tell me the truth and no sooner." She told him 

"Thank you." he said because he still had no clue what to say. She looked at him with a look he knew from his days in high school whenever he fucked around. This was probably not going to end well for him. 

“Don’t thank me young man, you missed Thanksgiving and Christmas and you had better had a pretty good explanation or I’m going to start coming up to that school of yours and dragging you home at every single opportunity.” She threatened. He nodded, that was more along the lines of what he had been expecting from this conversation. 

“Okay, Mamma, just… I’m so tired. I didn’t sleep well at Ransom’s place.” He said honestly. They had planned for Holster to just crash in Ransoms bed but when the it came down to it there were always too many people around, too many people watching them and neither of them was in the mood to explain why they were sleeping in the same bed so Holster had waved off Ransom’s apologies and slept fitfully on the couch. He had told Ransom he started sleeping better, but he knew his friend saw right through the lies. He wasn’t even sure why he was lying.

When Holster got home he was swarmed by his dad and younger sister who all wanted answers. His mother waved them off and told them that they would talk about it later. She was the last person he had expected to come to his rescue in putting off explanations but there she was being absolutely fantastic. She was watching him with an odd evaluating look in her eyes that was a bit terrifying though. In the end they agreed to talk about it the next day. Holster enjoyed spending the day catching up with his family. He had missed his younger sisters more than he had realized. He had missed his mom and dad. Now that they were right there he found himself wanting to ask them a million questions about parenting. What type of formula did his mother think was best? Did his father think it was bad for them to have her out on the ice so much? He kept nearly mentioning Jemma. He didn’t know when but at some point she had become his central point of conversation, the center of his whole life. Jemma and Ransom were all he could seem to think about. He stopped himself from saying anything about Jemma though. He still wasn’t sure how to explain things to his family so that they would understand. 

Holster staggered up to his room early that night. He called Ransom on Skype. He was just putting Jemma down to sleep. 

“Hey, you caught us just in time. She’s just about out, but you can say goodnight.” Ransom said brightly, “How’s your family?” 

“They’re good. My mom has told me not to make any excuses until I’m ready to tell her the truth so I haven’t given any explanations yet. How’s Jemma?” Holster answered. Ransom turned his computer around so Holster could see Jemma in her crib. She was still awake.

“Hey, darling!” Holster cooed at her. She stared up at him, looking confused. She reached a hand towards the laptop which Ransom kept out of her reach. 

“Papa’s not actually here, Jems, he’s just saying goodnight.” he said laughing. 

“Goodnight, Jemma.” Holster murmured. “Sweet dreams, I love you, I’ll see you- soon.” He told her. He said the same four phrases to her every night Goodnight, sweet dreams, love you, see you in the morning. It hurt that for the first time the last of them didn’t apply. Ransom turned the laptop back around and retreated away from Jemma’s crib. 

“Night, Holster.” He murmured. “We’ll see you soon, you won’t even have time to miss us.” 

“Night, Rans.” Holster murmured. “I already miss you both.” he added in a whisper just as Ransom disconnected the line. The last image froze on the screen for half a second, Ransom with a raw look on his face, something in his eyes… Holster didn’t know exactly what it was but it made his chest tighten uncomfortably. He threw himself onto his bed, relieved to finally get an opportunity for a good night’s sleep. He closed his eyes happily, nestling into his comfortable bed trying desperately to ignore the confused whirlwind in his mind.

After two hours lying in bed completely unable to fall asleep Holster was faced with an uncomfortable truth. He couldn’t sleep. He was in his own bed at home, he knew he was comfortable, and he couldn’t fall asleep. More than that was the truth that he had been avoiding thinking about since the first sleepless night at Ransom’s house. He had never had any difficulty sleeping in uncomfortable positions. This was something else. Holster sat up, and pulled his knees to his chest, suddenly more afraid than he had any right to be when he was sitting in his parents’ house. He had been putting this off for way too long though, since they had taken Jemma in, maybe even before that. If there was one thing Holster was good at, it was ignoring things. Ransom was always the one who obsessed over stuff, didn’t let it go, thought about it until he had it all pinned down exactly. Holster had never been that way. 

“Why can’t I sleep?” He asked himself aloud, his voice a shaky whisper. 

In the end the answer was one he already knew. He hadn’t been able to sleep since he had started sleeping in a different place than Jemma and Ransom. Part of his mind was already trying to seize on the fact of Jemma. Of course he had gotten used to sleeping with her right there. He was just being overprotective, just couldn’t sleep without being able to hear her breathing. Even in his own head he could tell it was a lie. It wasn’t about Jemma, not really. He loved her more than anything but this… this was about Ransom. He didn’t sleep as well without Ransom there. Ransom. 

Holster thought about his best friend. Justin Oluransi. They had been inseparable since freshman year. Holster could hardly imagine life without him. A thousand images and memories sprang to mind when he thought of Ransom. Ransom on the ice. Ransom complaining that ghosts were stalking him. Ransom laughing with him. Ransom curled in a ball of stress on the floor, only uncurling for Holster, the only one who understood his poor delicate coral reef. Ransom winning beer pong at his side and them celebrating together. Ransom’s warm smile that made Holster feel like he was capable of anything, because if he could make Ransom smile like that nothing was impossible. Ransom crying and shaking but holding Jemma like he was never letting her go even though he had just found her. Ransom staring at Holster holding Jemma on the ice after that game, those gorgeous brown eyes that he shared with his daughter so wide. Ransom’s face when he was asleep, the only time it was anything but so dynamically alive. The warmth of Ransom’s limbs intertwined with his in the tiny bottom bunk that had stopped being Holster’s and started being theirs. 

Holster let all his thoughts of Ransom tumble through his head. Ransom was the most important person in his life. He was the last person Holster thought of as he went to sleep, and the first person he wanted to see when he woke up. He was the father of Holster’s daughter. He was… 

Ransom was everything. 

Holster was in love with him. In the end it wasn’t even really a surprise. He had a feeling he had known for a while. He was in love his best friend, completely and undeniably in love. Holster almost wanted to laugh. How long had everyone been teasing them about being a couple? How long had they been denying it? How long had he actually been in love with Ransom? He didn’t even know, but he suspected it had been a long time. Long enough that there was a hysterical amount of overlap. He almost wanted to laugh, but he didn’t. He was too scared for that. 

He was still sitting on his bed with his knees pulled up to his chest. He was shaking and might have been crying, not that he ever would have admitted that to anyone. Not that he was ever discussing this with anyone ever. He was more terrified of this than he had ever been of anything. If he lost Ransom, if he lost Jemma, because of this he wouldn’t survive it. He could feel that much at his very core. Holster could not survive this world without Ransom and their daughter. Not anymore. Still despite everything some part of his chest still glowed with warmth, because no matter how afraid Holster was, thinking about Ransom made everything just a little bit brighter.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holster thinks about what his feelings mean for his future, and Ransom and Jemma arrive at the Birkholtz residence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also I realized only recently that I have incorrectly represented both Ransom and Holster's siblings in this fic. I have decided not to care. So my apologies for that.

Holster couldn't talk to his parents about it after that. He couldn't tell them about Jemma and Ransom, couldn't explain that he was just raising Jemma with his platonic best friend when he knew he would rather just be with Ransom. He thought about what he wanted. Really, the image hadn't changed much, he should have known before now he thought about it. He still wanted to go wherever Ransom went; find a job and a house, support Ransom and Jemma through med school. Raise Jemma, drive her to school, save money and send her to college. Maybe someday they'd adopt a second child. He couldn't believe he was thinking that sentence.

Holster pictured a future where he and Ransom wore matching rings. Where they would go to sleep in the same bed every night, where hopefully something besides sleeping would happen. Holster had never had a boyfriend before. He had in fact, never been with a guy before. However, he knew himself well enough to understand that he had always had some attraction to both guys and girls. He knew he was attracted to Ransom, that definitely was not a problem. In the end he didn’t really care about the bisexual thing. It was Ransom after all, Holster didn't really understand how anyone could not be attracted to him. Then again, maybe that was because Holster was in love with him. 

The thing was, it wasn't as if he could just come out and tell Ransom he was in love with him. If Ransom didn't feel the same way, and Holster had no idea if he did, it could ruin everything. Holster was willing to take a lot of risks in this life but one thing he was never going to jeopardize was his relationship with Ransom and Jemma. He couldn't lose them, but telling the truth could mean losing them both... He couldn't risk it. He just couldn't. So Holster recrafted his view of the future. Two separate rooms, but still the same house, the same beautiful daughter. He ignored the possibility of Ransom falling in love with someone else. That hurt a little too much to bear. It was a good future. After all, Holster told himself, any life with Ransom would be a good one even if it wasn't perfect. He swore to himself that it would be enough. It had to be. 

Holster called and texted Ransom constantly in the two days he wasn't by his side. He did his best to seem normal despite everything churning through his head. He did his best not to be too awful to his family but he suspected he failed somewhat. He was miserable. In order not to snap at them he resorted to just not talking that much. He hadn't explained anything to them right up until the day Ransom was supposed to get there. He was going to say something before they got there. He was going to warn his parents and sisters. He really was. Except then there was a knock at the door and he still hadn't said anything. He shot to his feet and flew to the door, barely getting there before his mom. He threw the door open. He didn’t think he had ever seen a sight more wonderful than Justin and Jemma Oluransi. (A small voice in the back of his head wondered if Adam Oluransi worked? Justin Birkholtz? He silenced it). 

“Hey.” Ransom said with a grin. 

“Hey.” Holster said, grinning back at him. “How’s Jemma?” He asked ushering Ransom inside. He lifted Jemma out of his arms. 

“How have you been darling? Did you miss me? Did you miss your Papa? He missed you! I missed you so much.” He cooed down at her. She smiled up at him, waving a hand at him happily. He caught her hand and kissed it. “I love you so much darling.” He balanced her on his hip and gave Ransom a one armed hug. 

“We’ve missed you, Holtzy.” Ransom murmured. 

“Adam? Do you want to tell me what exactly is going on?” His mother asked, slowly and calmly. 

“You said you were going to warn them!” Ransom hissed. 

“I was going to! You’re early!” Holster yelped. 

“You had two days!” Ransom protested, nearly laughing. 

“Yeah, well it’s not an easy thing to explain.” Holster said, though he knew it was a really bad excuse. 

“Is this why you didn’t come home for the holidays?” Mrs. Birkholtz demanded. “You have a daughter, and you didn’t tell me?” 

“Well… not exactly. Jemma is Ransom’s daughter biologically. We didn’t know about her until a little over a month ago. She’s only four months old. Her mother died because of the pregnancy. She had a heart condition. Her grandparents are Satan spawn. Anyway, they dumped her when she was three months old, because neither of them have souls. We've been raising her together since then. So to answer your question... Yes, I have a daughter, and I didn't know how to tell you. Mom this is Jemma Rose Oluransi, our daughter." Holster said, turning to look at her, with Jemma held proudly in his arms. She stared at them both in complete shock. He waited, then. 

"How dare you not tell me?!" She exclaimed, smacking Holster on the arm gently as she rushed forwards. "What kind of son doesn't tell his own mother that he's adopted a child?" She smiled at Jemma, then Ransom. 

"She's beautiful, Justin!" She said, "Aren't you gorgeous?" She cooed at Jemma. 

"I'm sorry, mom. I meant to tell you it's just hard to explain. My best friend had a kid and now we're raising her together. That's... crazy." Holster said. 

"As far as you're concerned she's your daughter right?" His mother asked. Holster nodded. 

"Absolutely. Forever and always." He agreed. 

"And you went days without telling us about her?! You let me go this long not knowing I had a granddaughter?! I didn't get her any christmas presents or anything." His mother huffed. 

"Please don't. We got too many already from the team and my family. Ransom said. 

"We went to his house for Christmas since they're Jemma's Biological family. I'm sorry I missed Christmas but I wasn't going to just leave them and miss my baby girl's first Christmas." Holster added apologetically. His mother leveled a glare at him. 

"I would have smacked you if you did." His mother replied, "You still should have told me." She added. He nodded. 

"I know. I'm sorry. It's been a stressful few weeks." He told her. "Not that it's your fault, darling." He added to Jemma bouncing her a little. She giggled. 

"Can I hold her?" His mom asked, sounding hesitant for the first time. 

"Of course." Holster said with a grin. He carefully transferred Jemma into her arms. "This is your Grandma Birkholtz." He told Jemma. 

"Yes it is." She agreed. "Hello, Jemma. It's so good to finally meet you. You're just the cutest baby in the whole world." 

"We'll go get bags, be right back." Holster told his mother. He followed Ransom out to the car. 

"I missed you." Ransom said softly as they grabbed all of Ransom and Jemma's luggage. 

"I missed you too." Holster told him, hating the awkwardness in his own voice. He felt odd, like he didn't know how to act around Ransom anymore. It was stupid. He and Ransom had been inseparable since they had met freshman year. They slept in the same bed frequently, they knew everything there was to know about each other.

"Are you alright, Holster?" Ransom asked as they headed back inside. 

"I'm fine." Holster lied. "Let's go before my mom introduces our daughter to my entire family without us." He added. Ransom looked like he didn't believe it, but followed him inside. 

Luckily Holster's mom was still alone, holding Jemma happily. As soon as they came in she looked up. 

"Girls! Come down here! Your brother has someone for you to meet!" She called. Holster's sisters came down the stairs quickly. 

"This is Jemma Rose Oluransi. She's Ransom's biological daughter, but we're raising her together." Holster said gesturing to Jemma. 

"Not as a couple. We aren't a couple." Ransom said before anyone could ask. It was true but it hurt. The way Ransom automatically said it hurt. Holster scolded himself silently, nothing had changed. He knew it hadn't, but it felt like everything had changed. His sisters were busy cooing over Jemma. He looked over at Ransom, only to find that he was already watching Holster. Holster’s stomach flipped. He was in so much trouble. 

“Just you wait until your father gets home.” His mother said. He hung his head. Yeah… he was totally screwed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys didn't think that it would be that easy... Oh no... there's still a lot to do here. Hope you enjoy mutual pining because there's a lot of it coming for you.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holster's dad is being difficult. Holster is pining. They go ice skating with his family. Ransom is also pining. They're blind as hell

“Adam, can we talk?” Holster’s father asked. 

That was just about the last thing that Holster wanted to hear after spending the night catching his family up on all news Jemma. His mother and sister’s adored her. They immediately declared that they were just as much her family as Ransom’s family was. After hearing the full story of what had happened the Birkholtz women had all looked like they were on the verge of marching straight to the Williams’ door to give them a piece of their mind. Holster’s mom had assured Ransom that Jemma would always have two sets of grandparents. His father on the other hand had been more withdrawn. Now he started towards the kitchen, beckoning Holster after him. 

“What’s up, Dad?” He asked, trying to stay positive. 

“What are you thinking, son?” His father asked. So much for positivity. 

“I’m not sure what exactly you’re talking about.” Holster said calmly.

“You can’t raise another man’s son.” His father said. “You said that you aren’t together. That girl is not your daughter, Adam. What are you thinking?” He asked.

“I don’t care that she isn’t mine biologically. Justin’s my best friend, and that’s not changing, ever. I love Jemma. I’m going to raise her like my own daughter. I don’t care what anyone else thinks of it.” Holster answered. 

“Son, I know it sounds good now but raising a kid isn’t all smiles and fun times. Babies are a lot of work. Kids are a lot of work. That’s a lot to do when it isn’t even your child.” His dad said skeptically. 

“Why does everyone think that we’re not ready for this? Like we don’t know what it takes to take care of a baby, we’ve been taking care of her. It’s not easy. I get that. I don’t get much sleep. She cries louder than a foghorn sometimes. I’ve already changed more diapers than I ever wanted to and got used to getting baby vomit all on my clothes.” Holster said irritably, “I love my daughter to death, every parent loves their kid to death, but it’s not easy. I know that. I don’t care. I’m still going to take care of her for the rest of my life.” 

“Holtzy, Jemma needs changed! You owe me two full days of dirty diapers.” Ransom called from the other room. 

“Speaking of which.” Holster said, nodding in that direction. “I have baby poop to deal with.” He walked out before his father could respond. 

“We should go to sleep.” Holster said when he came back into the room with Jemma once she was clean and dressed in her pajamas. 

“Oh! I need to make a place up for Justin to sleep.” his mother exclaimed. 

“Don’t worry about it. We can just share my bed, it’s no problem.” Holster said. He didn’t care what people thought anymore. He just wanted to get some sleep. He pulled Ransom out of the room before his mother could say anything overly accepting towards them. 

“You sure that was a good idea?" Ransom asked as Holster shut them all into his room. Holster shook his head. 

"Nope, I don't care. I just want to get a good night's sleep." He said, then paused. Shit. He shouldn't have said that. 

"Have you still not been sleeping well?" Ransom asked. Holster shrugged. 

"I don't know. I guess I got used to the way things were at the Haus." He said, "Having Jemma in the room where I can hear her and all that." He added quickly. Ransom nodded. Holster was too busy hiding his own blush to notice the pain that flashed across his friend's face.

"Jemma, yeah. That makes sense." He agreed softly. They both climbed into bed, ignoring the strange silence between them. 

"My dad thinks I'm an idiot for raising Jemma with you." Holster told Ransom. "He says she's not mine." 

"She is though." Ransom told him. "Jemma and I, we're always gonna be yours no matter what happens. I'm always gonna be your best friend, Holst. And Jemma is always gonna be your daughter." 

"Thanks, Rans. You can't know how much that means, Holster told him his throat tight. He told himself that this was enough, he might never be with Ransom in the way he wanted, but at least he would always have him in his life. 

"Good night." Ransom murmured. 

"Night." Holster answered.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Holster woke up to an empty bed and an empty crib in the room. He wasn't worried. Ransom often woke up before him. He was about to go down the stairs when he heard his parents talking in their room. 

"Charles, don't be obtuse, you know as well as I do that Adam's in love with that boy." His mother snapped. 

"Which is why I disapprove. Louisa, if he stays where he is: living with Justin, raising his daughter with him, but not actually with him it's going to break his heart every day for the rest of his life. He'll never get over the boy. I just want him to be happy." His father answered. 

"Jemma makes him happy, Charles. They will figure themselves out." His mother said. Holster hurried away before he could hear more. He went downstairs to find Ransom in the living room with his sisters. They were playing with Jemma on the floor but when Holster entered the room his youngest sister shot to her feet. 

"Adam! Can we go ice-skating?" She asked enthusiastically. "All of us as a family?" Holster glanced at Ransom who smiled and shrugged.

"You go wrangle the parents." He told his sisters. "Rans and I have to get Jemma ready.” 

Soon the entire Birkholtz clan was on the ice of a nearby rink. Holster had Jemma strapped to his chest within his coat, which was zipped so that only her head poked out. She laughed and grinned as Holster skated around. Ransom skated circles around them, occasionally attempting a spin that Bitty was trying to teach some of the guys on the team. It wasn't going well. Meanwhile Holster was skating slowly and defensively, just trying to make sure nothing happened to Jemma. He and Ransom ended up laughing and teasing each other as they skated around each other.   
It was nice to just skate just to be on the ice. For a little bit, just skating, with Ransom, laughing, Jemma giggling happily from his coat everything seemed normal. It was perfect. Then He realizes he’s been staring too long at Ransom. He blushed, stomach flipping as he turned away hurriedly. He misses the disappointment on his friend’s face. He didn’t see the pointed looks his family exchanged. Holster fussed over Jemma for an excuse to look away. He made sure her tiny hat was pulled down over her head. 

“Holster, you’ve been acting super weird. Are you okay?” Ransom asked, skating around to stand in front of him. 

“I’m sorry, dude.” Holster said going for normal. “Just having an off day, you know. I just want to get back to the Haus, get back into the normal swing of things. This whole mess is stressful as all get out.” 

“Yeah, I know how that goes. You should have heard my family after you left. Talk about crazy.” Ransom said, shaking his head. 

“What did they say?” Holster asked, suddenly worried. 

“My mother basically told me that I should marry you. You were ‘the most incredible young man’, and if I didn’t snap you up I’d regret it for the rest of my life et cetera, et cetera ad nauseum.” Ransom muttered. 

“Why would she say that?” Holster asked. ‘Maybe’ a hopeful voice murmured in his head. 

“Because I’m a bisexual man raising my daughter with another guy?” Ransom suggested, “A guy who is a fantastic father, and a great guy.” 

“You’re Bi?” Holster demanded feeling slightly light headed. “Dude, why on earth have you not told me that before?!” Somewhere in the back of his mind the hopeful voice was screaming, but mostly he felt hurt. He thought he and Ransom talked about everything in their lives, but here was this huge thing that Ransom hadn’t mentioned to him. Ransom was shifting uncomfortably.

“I don’t really know. I just felt weird about it.” he muttered, “I never really talk about it. It’s not like I’ve had a boyfriend since high school anyway. Then there’s us, and we’re so crazy close and I know people talk about us, I was just worried it might change things if you knew. I didn’t want you to be worried I was into you or something. I didn’t want it to make you uncomfortable.”

“Dude, I’m your best friend! You know I’m not homophobic, or biphobic. Come on.” Holster exclaimed. “You know I’m not that way around Bitty! Or Dex and Nursey, who I’m pretty sure are a thing. Or Lardo who is Bi… Jesus, half of our team is queer did you notice?” 

“Yeah… I know. It’s like you said though, you’re my best friend, it’s different. We sleep in the same bed. A lot of people, even straight allies, would be awkward about that.” Ransom answered. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.” 

“I’m sorry you felt like you couldn’t talk to me about it.” Holster muttered. “I could have helped find you a boyfriend.” He added with a small smile. Part of him was screaming 'ME!' but he ignored it. He might be in love with the guy, but Holster was Ransom's best friend friend first. 

“Yeah, sure.” Ransom agreed, looking down. “You’re a good friend, Holst.” Their conversation was interrupted by their daughter who started to fuss a little, looking like she was about to cry. They got Jemma inside before she got upset. When they got home they didn’t talk about it. They were busy. Holster shoved the conversation to the back of his mind. He knew that the sting of Ransom’s words would probably sting for a long time. ‘I didn’t want you to be worried I was into you…’ It hurt. Holster was determined not to think about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I insert all of my ships into all of my fics and I'm not even sorry. Yeah Dex/Nursey is definitely a thing in the background of this. Shitty/Lardo is also always a thing in my mind so if it comes up later, that's a thing.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ransom and Holster get back to the Haus at long last. Holster has a heart to heart with Shitty. Time passes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is mostly filler, we're about to get into the good stuff but there needs to be transistions.
> 
> Also apologies if the formatting is in anyway messed up, AO3 is freaking out on me a bit and making life super difficult

When they finally got back to the Haus Holster felt like crying of relief. He loved both of their families, honestly, but it felt like it had been years instead of weeks since he had last been at home. He wasn't sure when he had started thinking of the Haus as home. It didn't really matter, he was just glad to be back. As soon as they walked into the Haus they were surrounded by their teammates. Bitty, Jack, Shitty, and Chowder were all there and everyone had missed Jemma. Holster relinquished his daughter into Bitty’s arms and helped Ransom with their stuff instead. Holster was so glad to be home. Bitty had already made a few pies by the time they got back. Holster had missed Bitty’s baking more than he had expected. 

The team all ate together in the Haus kitchen. It was nice, except everything was still awkward. Holster wasn’t sure exactly what he had expected from coming home. He hadn’t really questioned it before but he realized he had been expecting everything to go back to normal, like it was before Christmas. He should have known better. It wasn’t all going to go away just because they were home. Nothing was going to be ‘normal’ again. He was uselessly in love with his best friend, the man he was raising a daughter with. Things between the two of them had been… weird. Holster wasn’t exactly sure how to describe it. He tried to ignore it. But it wasn’t easy. He ended up nearly ignoring Ransom which didn’t help anything but he didn’t know what else to do. When Ransom went to sleep Holster stayed up. 

“Holster, are you okay?” Shitty asked, coming into the kitchen where Holster was sitting alone picking at a piece of pie. 

“I honestly don’t know.” He answered honestly. Shitty sat down next to him, naked except for his boxers, as always. 

“Talk to me. Was it your families? Were they uncool about Jemma, or you two raising her together?” he asked. Holster sighed again, taking his glasses off so he could rub his hands into his eyes.

“Not exactly… My dad told me it was a mistake, raising Ransom’s daughter with him.” He said. Shitty looked indignant.

“Well that’s absurd. You can do whatever you want. You make a great second father.” He said. Holster chuckled.

“Yeah, well he didn’t mean it. I heard him talking to mom… They think I’m in love with Ransom, that if I stay where I’m at then all I’m going to do is break my own heart every day, and never move on.” he explained. 

“Well, they’re your parents, they’re just trying to look out for you.” Shitty said, though he was watching Holster carefully. “Is there… is there something wrong?”

“Yeah… the thing is that he’s right.” Holster said at last, “I’m in love with Ransom.” 

“That’s wonderful.” Shitty said happily, then his smile fell. “Why do you look so damn unhappy?” 

“Because unrequited love is a son of a bitch.” Holster muttered. “Because I can’t risk messing up our relationship. We’ve got to take care of Jemma first. She’s the priority. I can’t risk her, and I can’t risk my friendship with Ransom. He and Jemma are the most important people in my life. Ransom… he’s the most important thing to me.” 

“Oh, Holster… I’m so sorry.” Shitty murmured. “It doesn’t have to be that way. Ransom, might… I mean. You mean the world to him Holster.” he tried, looking slightly hopeful. 

“He didn’t tell me he was bisexual specifically because he was worried I might think that he was into him.” Holster said grimly. Shitty winced. 

“That’s rough, but you might still have a chance, you never know.” he said, “I mean, I think-”

“Don’t!” Holster interrupted. Shitty startled and the vehemence in his voice. Holster sighed. “Sorry, just, please don’t make me hope. I don’t want to get my hopes up. It’ll just hurt.” He said mournfully. Shitty just sighed. 

“I’m going to go to sleep.” he said, shaking his head. “It’s going to be alright Holster.” he added. Holster waved him off. Shitty headed up the stairs, Holster only paused to put his plate into the sink before he followed him. Shitty headed into Jack’s room instead of his. 

“Are you alright?” He heard Jack ask. 

“Those two are going to be the death of me!” Shitty’s voice was muffled but Holster heard him. Holster rolled his eyes and headed up to the attic. He was checking on Jemma one last time when he heard a voice from behind him.

“Come to bed, Holster.” Ransom murmured. Holster turned back from where he was standing over Jemma’s crib, to look back at his friend. Ransom was lying in the bottom bunk looking at Holster through sleepy eyes, he held the blankets open. Holster felt a spark of energy shoot through him at the sight of Ransom calling him to bed.

“Hey, I thought you were asleep.” Holster murmured. 

“Only sort of, I was waiting for you.” Ransom told him. “What were you up to?” He sounded still partially asleep. 

“Just talking with Shitty.” Holster answered honestly, “Why’d you wait up for me?” 

“I like going to bed with you. You’re warm.” He said. 

“I am pretty hot.” Holster said with a grin and a wink, reacting automatically. Ransom smiled at him. 

“That’s so true,” He said, nearly slurring from sleep. “Just come to sleep.” He added. Holster shed his clothes and climbed into bed, hoping it was too dark for Ransom to notice his blush. Ransom curled around him, twining his arms and legs around Holster. Holster tried not to tense. While they usually ended up wrapped up in each other, they hadn’t really started off that way before. It was probably the best thing in the world. Holster told himself to relax and just enjoy this, whatever it was that they had. So he curled further into Ransom’s chest and let himself drift to sleep, happy and warm. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
After that things were different. Well not exactly different, not in any discernable way. But Holster felt like there was something different between the two of them. They weren’t as horribly awkward and weird as they had been around each other right after Holster figured out his feelings, but they definitely were not the way they had been before either. It seemed like it sometimes, but then occasionally Ransom would say something that made Holster’s stomach flip and his cheeks burn red. At first it might have been coincidence, but after a while Holster realized that Ransom was doing it on purpose. If he hadn’t known any better he would say that Ransom was flirting with him. Holster found himself flirting back, not entirely purposefully. He would almost think they were going somewhere and then Ransom would pull away again and things would be weird for a little bit. Then it would start all over again. Rinse. Repeat. Holster didn’t know what to make of it, and Shitty’s pointed looks were not helping anything. 

Whatever it was they found a sort of balance between the two of them in the weeks and months after Christmas. It wasn’t perfect but it was something. Holster was willing to accept it, and happy to ignore Shitty. They were okay. That was the point, Holster told himself. Ransom and Holster were okay. Jemma was okay. Jemma was incredible. Ransom was beyond stressed as he started studying for the MCATs on top of everything else, but Jemma seemed to help. He couldn’t curl up on the ground shaking if Jemma needed him. Holster took full advantage of that realization and as a result had to pull Ransom out from under a lot less tables than he was expecting from this year. The whole Haus had a celebration for Jemma’s half birthday. Bitty made cake which everyone got to eat except Jemma, because you do not give six month old babies cake. It was weird that this was as close as Holster had gotten to a party in three months. The guys had had a few Haus parties, during which time Ransom and Holster crashed at Nursey’s dorm with Jemma, allowing him their room for the night, but not many. When Holster asked why Shitty had shrugged and told him,

“It just doesn’t feel right, bro. This is like… the place where a child is growing up. Childhoods and beer-pong shouldn’t happen in the same place.” He may have been high when he said it but the message definitely stood. 

“I can’t believe Jemma’s been here three months already.” Chowder said enthusiastically from underneath a party hat. Holster was bouncing Jemma in in his arms playfully. He shrugged. 

“It seems longer to me.” He answered honestly. Ransom nodded at his side. 

“Definitely. It feels like she’s always been a part of my life.” He agreed, “From now on she always will be.” He grinned and brushed a hand over Jemma’s curls affectionately. There was a knock at the door which Shitty went to answer. He was uncharacteristically fully dressed in a button down shirt and slacks, he had had an interview that morning and earlier had even been wearing a tie. He opened the door and stared for a moment, face furious.

“Oh, fuck no.” He said flatly, slamming the door shut again. There was more pounding from the other side.

“Let us in! We want to see our granddaughter!” A woman’s voice called, “Justin, I know you’re in there!” Shitty turned back from the door and clapped Ransom on the shoulder. 

“Ransom, Satan is at the door for you.” He said grimly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun Dun Duuuuuh!!!! This is about to get interesting >:)


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Grandparents from Hell have returned...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit is about to get real... please don't hate me!
> 
> Warning for homophobia in this chapter.

Ransom’s eyes went wide at Shitty’s words. He looked down at Jemma who was still happy as ever, ignorant to the presence of her satanic biological grandparents right outside the door. Holster watched Ransom in concern. 

“Are you going to be alright, Rans?” He asked, “You don’t have to talk to them. We can make them go away.” 

“No. I don’t want to give them even more reason to hate me.” Ransom muttered. I’ll get the door. He went to the door, trying to hide his shaking hands. 

“Sorry about my friend, he can be a bit rude.” He said icily, “What can I do for you?” All of the important legal things had been taken care of months ago. Ransom had claimed full custody as a parent and the Williamses had not contested his claim. It had all gone over smoothly. Holster couldn’t imagine what they were doing here now. He wondered grimly if they just intended to show up and fuck with Ransom’s life every three months. He couldn’t help tightening his hold on Jemma just a fraction, not enough for her to be uncomfortable, just enough to make him feel better. 

“We want to come in and see our granddaughter. It is our responsibility to make sure that we didn’t abandon a child to an abusive or unfit household.” The woman declared shrilly. Ransom stepped aside woodenly. 

“Technically you forfeited your responsibilities. It’s child protective services job to make sure children aren’t in abusive households. You’re just nosey.” Shitty said from the side of the room. 

“This is not the time.” Jack hissed at him. Shitty scowled, looking like he wanted nothing more than to rant at these people until they ran from the Haus screaming, but he stayed silent. 

“As you can see, Jemma is fine. My teammates and I were actually just celebrating her half-birthday.” Ransom told his… Holster wasn’t even sure what Rachel’s parents were called in relation to Ransom. Holster stepped up to Ransom’s side, figuring it was about time he started helping and faced the satan-spawn for himself.

“And who are you?” Mr Williams asked sternly, looking at Holster. 

“Adam Birkholtz, sir. My apologies if I don’t shake your hand.” He answered, “I’m Jemma’s second caregiver.” 

“What do you mean by that?” Mrs. Williams asked coldly, eyes wide. 

“Adam is Jemma’s second father.” Ransom answered, firmly. 

“Are you telling me that my granddaughter is being raised by two men living in sin! I thought you were a decent man! Now I find that you… you’re unnatural!” Mrs. Williams practically screeched. Holster was dumbstruck. There was a scuffle from behind them as Jack turned and blocked Shitty with his chest and left arm, grabbing Bitty back by the collar with the other. 

“We should go, this conversation isn’t for us.” Jack hissed. Lardo grabbed Shitty’s arm and towed him out of the room, one hand clamped over his mouth. Jack had to pick Bitty up in a fireman’s hold and carried him into the kitchen. 

“I’m sorry, but who here is unnatural? You’re the ones who were incapable of loving the most beautiful, happy, innocent baby in the world!” Holster snapped, taking a step forwards. Before either of the Williamses could respond Chowder stepped in front of Holster. 

“I’ll take Jemma up to your room. Dex, Nursey, and I will take care of her.” he said, “She shouldn’t be here for this.” 

“Thank you.” Holster murmured, passing Jemma into his arms. 

“Dex, Nursey, come on.” Chowder said, gesturing towards them. Nursey stood to follow him, but Dex looked frozen in place. Nursey pulled him up and wrapped an arm around him. 

“Come on Dex. It’s alright, don’t take it personally. Dex, sweetheart. Come on.” He urged, ushering him up the stairs after Chowder. 

“Our teammates don’t take kindly to biggots, and neither do we.” Ransom said, staring at Jemma’s maternal grandparents coldly. “I am a proud bisexual man, and I think that anyone can raise a kid, especially two people who love each other and their child more than anything. So don’t act like we’re unfit to take care of Jemma.” he added. 

“It’s wrong. A child can’t have two father’s. It’s unnatural.” Mr. Williams answered. 

“It’s not like what YOU people feel is even proper love anyway.” Mrs. Williams said shrilly, “I cannot allow Jemma to be raised in such an environment. You must return her to our care immediately!” 

“Over my dead body.” Holster said, Ransom was too shocked and furious to even speak. “She’s our daughter. She’s Justin’s daughter, he has custody, and we will fight for Jemma with every last breath.” Holster declared furiously. 

“Then we will see you in court.” Mr. Williams said sternly. 

“Good luck convincing a judge that an unmarried, unemployed, twenty-one year old, college hockey player, living in a frat house, is a more reasonable guardian for Jemma than her stable well-established grandparents.” Mrs. Williams huffed, grabbing her husband by the hand and storming out of the Haus. Holster slammed the door after them before turning back to Ransom. His friend was frozen in shock and horror. Holster didn’t even think before wrapping his arms around him tightly. 

“We won’t let them take her, Rans. They won’t take her from us.” He promised. Ransom just buried his face in Holster’s shoulder, shaking. 

That night they slept carefully still with Jemma curled up on Holster’s chest, Ransom holding her in place with one arm, the other tucked around Holster himself. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Things don’t look particularly good, boys.” Robert, their lawyer told them a few weeks later. He was a friend of Shitty’s family and doing a favor for his favorite “nephew” by helping out his friends. Holster had been hoping the least they could get out of this whole experience was Shitty’s first name but the bastard had warned Robert beforehand not to tell anyone. 

“What can we do?” Ransom asked. “I mean, they had custody and gave her up. That has to put a black mark in their record, right?” 

“Yes, of course.” Robert agreed, “But the fact of the matter is, Ransom doesn’t come across as a responsible parent on paper. He’s a single dad, he’s young, he’s got so much on his plate already, and he didn’t know she existed until three months ago. That’s a hard black mark against him.” 

“Tell me what I can do. What do I do to make myself seem more like a viable option here.” Ransom demanded. Robert shrugged. 

“Do everything you can to make this seem like a stable, ordinary, loving environment for her. Judges like a nice looking nuclear family.” He offered. “Make sure you’ve got her one hundred percent up to date on doctor’s appointments and everything else as well. I don’t want to see a single misstep in your care of her or we are fighting a losing battle.”

“She’s had all of the shots appropriate for her age, she’s on my insurance these days. We take perfect care of her.” Ransom told Robert, “But I don’t know what I can do about nuclear family. This is what you’ve got. Two guys, who are just friends, raising a daughter together.” he said gesturing towards Holster. Robert grimaced.

“I’m not sure that that is the best play. It might be better for Adam not to be a part of these proceedings at all. I know he sees Jemma as a daughter, but it doesn’t come across well.” He said. Ransom shook his head. 

“That’s not acceptable. We’re in this together.” He said. Robert scowled.

“Not really. He has no legal rights connecting him to you or Jemma. He is a bystander.” He said sternly, “No offense Mr Birkholtz.” 

“There has to be a way to get around that. Jemma has two parents, they need to see that.” Ransom protested. “Holster is a great dad. There has to be a way.” 

“We could get married.” Holster had been silent until the words slipped out of his mouth. They were quiet but all the sound in the room seemed to be sucked out at the sound of them. Ransom stared.

“What?” he asked, voice a little hoarse. Holster took a deep breath.

“We could get married.” he said louder, “You said it yourself, we’re in this together, no matter what. We need to present something as close to a normal stable family as possible. If we get married it shows them that Jemma has two parents who are solidly together.” He summarized, talking past the lump in his throat, trying to ignore how fast his heart was beating. 

“It would help.” Robert said mildly. “If you really are willing to do it.” Holster leveled his gaze at Ransom, blue eyes meeting brown with determination. 

“What do you say. I’ll do anything to help us keep Jemma. Will you marry me?” He asked. It was nearly a challenge. He thought he saw pain and panic in Ransom’s eyes for a moment before they flitted away, but when he looked back he just looked determined. No matter what else might be between them, on this they would always agree: Jemma was the most important thing in their lives. 

“Anything for Jemma.” Ransom agreed. “Let’s get married.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone thought those bastards were ever going to be redeemed... HAHAHA hell no. 
> 
> If anyone's curious Dex and Nursey got together over Christmas break, which they spent together at Dex's. However Dex is not out to his family and has a lot of internalized homophobia due to his conservative upbringing. He's working through it with Nursey's help.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They explain stuff to the team and start wedding planning. Holster goes shopping for an engagement ring!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I meant to get this out to you guys earlier but I was at my cousin's graduation over the weekend. 
> 
> This chapter is nearly twice as long as my normal ones so I hope you enjoy!

“You’re getting married?!” Bitty exclaimed. After Robert had left they gathered the guys into the living room. Ransom was holding Jemma close against his chest like a shield. Holster stood at his side, shifting from side to side awkwardly. Bitty shot to his feet. 

“Yeah, it’s the best way to show that Jemma has two legal parents who are supporting her.” Holster answered. Bitty lunged forwards and hit him, several times in the chest and arms. Holster flinched. Bitty might have been tiny but he was by no means weak. Jack wrapped his arms around Bitty from behind, pinning his arms to his sides and dragging him back. Bitty went bright red and completely still

“I’m fine, you can let go.” He said with a huff, Jack looked very much like he wanted to say he didn’t want to but he released Bitty watching carefully until he was certain that Holster would not be assaulted again. 

“I still can’t believe you two.” Bitty added. 

“Seconded.” Shitty said, looking like he was a few seconds away from following suit and starting to hit them over the head. “I honestly can’t believe you two. You’re telling me that you’re getting married, but you aren’t together? You aren’t dating? You’ve never kissed?” He demanded. They both nodded. Shitty pulled on his hair with both hands, making a frustrated indignant sound that was half groan half scream. 

“You okay dude?” Nursey asked, looking worried. 

“Shits, come on…” Lardo said, tugging one of Shitty’s hands out of his hair and pulling him along by it, “Let’s go do something to distract you before you have a stroke.” 

“I’m out of weed.” Shitty moaned pitifully. He turned back to Ransom and Holster. “Please talk to each other! Please!” 

“I’m sure I’ll find something to do to get your mind off of things.” Lardo told Shitty, tugging him towards the stairs. That finally got his attention. He followed her more willingly up the stairs. 

“How long have those two been having sex?” Dex asked, eyes narrowed. 

“It’s one of life’s great mysteries. Their friendship always seemed sort of like they were dating and I honestly could not tell you when it switched over.” Jack told him.

“I asked once, they just laughed at me.” Chowder said with a slight frown. They all shrugged. 

“So when were you thinking of actually getting married?” Jack asked. Ransom and Holster glanced at each other.

“In about a month.” Ransom said. They hadn’t actually discussed it, besides saying that it needed to happen soon. Ransom’s eyes met Holster’s in something like a challenge. He was asking if Holster was still doing this. 

“Yes.” Holster agreed, “Speaking of which. We had better go apply for a marriage license. It takes time.” He added, issuing his own challenge.

“Right. We’d better go.” Ransom agreed. 

“I’ll just grab Jemma’s bag.” Holster said, heaving upstairs. He grabbed the diaper bag, trying to ignore how fast his heart was beating. He felt a little dizzy. He ignored it. He could do this, get married. At least this way Ransom would be his no matter what, even if it might not be exactly what he wanted… There was still that voice whispering in his head ‘Maybe.’ He tried to ignore it. He needed to be able to breathe normally if he was going to do this but… but Ransom had agreed to marry him after all. Could it really be JUST for Jemma? 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They told the rest of the team, and their coaches the next day but neither of them had called their parents. Holster wasn’t sure what exactly he was going to tell his parents. He was pretty sure if he told them that he and Ransom weren’t actually together they wouldn’t let him actually go through with it. However, there were still a lot of things to figure out before they had to start inviting people. 

“Hey, Rans, I’ve got to go run some errands.” Holster told Ransom the next morning. “I can take Jemma if you want to get some studying done before we go full wedding planning.” It was Saturday and they were going to spend the weekend getting wedding planning started. Holster had something to do first. Ransom nodded. 

“Yeah that sounds great.” He agreed, “I don’t need to do a lot, just-” 

“I know dude, you’re busy. That’s why there are two of us.” Holster said before Ransom could list of the million things he was hoping to go over today in the time of a few hours. 

“Yeah. It is. There always will be two of us now.” Ransom agreed with a grin. 

“Exactly.” Holster agreed. Ransom helped him pack up Jemma’s stuff before turning back to his books. Holster strapped his daughter into her carseat and was on his way. He drove to town and pulled into the parking lot at the jewelry store. He knew he would have to come back with Ransom at some point soon to pick out wedding bands they both liked, but this was different. He had proposed to Ransom, which meant he owed him an engagement ring. He didn’t care that their marriage wasn’t traditional, or entirely real, he wanted… he just wanted to see Ransom’s face when he proposed. He wanted there to be something shiny on Ransom’s hand marking that he was Holster’s. So here he was. He had a grand total of five hundred dollars that he was willing to spend. He knew it was sort of stupid to waste money on an engagement ring for a wedding that wasn’t really about them, but he didn’t care. 

Holster put Jemma in her stroller, smiling down at her. She grinned back up at him. She was a constant reminder of why he was doing this to himself. Whenever he started to freak out and wonder what the hell he was thinking he would catch sight of Jemma, playing, smiling, laughing, and he would remember that it was worth it a million times over. He wheeled her into the store, which was empty except for two employees. One of them came over to him immediately with a nearly blinding white smile. 

“What can I do for you today sir?” She asked brightly. 

“I need help finding and engagement ring.” he said. 

“Oh, congratulations!” she said with another too white smile. She glanced down at Jemma and the smile looked more genuine. “Does this little darling belong to you and your soon to be fiancée?” she asked. 

“Yes, she does. I only thought it was right that Jemma came and helped me pick out her Daddy’s engagement ring.” Holster said with a smile. The woman nodded, still cooing at Jemma. 

“Of course. I’m sure this young lady has the best taste in the family.” She said, waving at Jemma who sort of waved back. Holster laughed. 

“I’m sure you’re right.” He agreed. She waved him forwards to a smaller display case along the side of the store. 

“We have a lovely selection of male engagement rings.” She said, “Of course you can get anything from the women’s section as well, we’ll just have to do some size conversions.” She added with a smile. Holster decided that he liked this woman and her easy acceptance of him. 

“I’m sure we’ll find something that we like here.” Holster said peering down at the men’s rings. Some were simple, others had designs in them, or gems. It was overwhelming.

“What does your partner prefer? Something extravagant or something simpler?” She asked. Holster thought about it for a moment. 

“He’s not over the top. Not flamboyant. But I don’t think plain is really right either. Our wedding bands will probably be very simple. I think he’d like something with a bit more sparkle to it for an engagement ring.” he answered at last. Ransom liked to dress nicely, or at least his version of it (salmon shorts, Holster thought with a shudder). He was the type of guy who could totally pull off a relatively simple engagement ring that still had some bling on it. 

“Okay… I can work with that.” The woman agreed, pulling a tray of rings out. “Do you see anything here that catches your eye?” She asked. Holster stared at all of the rings completely overwhelmed. Then he saw one with interesting angles to the band, a line of tiny diamonds running through the center of it. He gestured at it slightly helplessly. 

“Oh, that one is beautiful.” She said plucking it from the cushion. She offered it to him to examine. “It’s ten carat white gold, total one-third carat diamond. Very modern design, very beautiful.” She said with a smile.

“It's beautiful.” Holster agreed. He could picture it on Ransom's hand, shining as a constant reminder that Ransom was his. He held it where Jemma could see. 

“What do you think, darling?” He asked, "Do you think Daddy would like it?" 

“I'm sure anyone would love it.” The woman said with a smile. “This particular ring is 450 dollars. Do you have a price range?”

“Under five hundred was all I had.” Holster answered. She smiled beatifically. 

“Well that must just be fate.” She said. 

“I'm gonna ask a friend before I make any decisions.” Holster told her, she nodded. 

He took a picture of the ring and then realized he wasn't sure who to ask the opinion of. Normally he just asked Ransom, but that didn’t work here. Finally he sent it to Lardo. He had considered Bitty but the kid may have had a heart attack instead of offering advice, and he probably would just say anything Holster picked out was beautiful.

‘Would Ransom like this??!?!?!’ Holster sent to Lardo. He knew Lardo and Ransom were close. She was good at helping him chill. Besides, Lardo was an artist, she was good at judging the appearance of things.

‘Holster, what are you doing?!’ Lardo shot back immediately. 

‘Buying Ransom an engagement ring. I proposed, I owe him one.’ Holster told her, ‘What do you think of this one?’ His phone rang. The store clerk stepped away politely to allow him privacy. 

“Hey, Lardo, what do you think?” He asked, “I'm not good at this stuff.”

“Holster, if you have feelings for Ransom you have to tell him.” Lardo said flatly. Holster spluttered. 

“What the hell, Lardo?!’ He asked. 

“Holster, no one buys a ring that perfect and beautiful for a marriage that doesn't mean anything.”

“You think it's perfect?” Holster asked hopefully. 

“He'd love it, but Holster you have to-” she started again,

“Thanks, bye!” Holster cut her off, hanging up. He would regret that later but he didn't want to have that conversation right now. He turned back to the helpful woman. 

“I'd like to get this one, as fast as I can if possible. How long would it take?” He asked. She grinned clapping her hands together. 

“Oh, I'm so glad that you found something you like!” She said happily. “What size does he wear? Do you know?” Holster nodded with a grin, he had gone out of his way to find out. He had written it down. He pulled the paper out of his pocket and passed it to her. She checked the tag tied to the ring and grinned. 

“Well it is your lucky day. I can clean this up for you and send you away with it now.” She said brightly. Holster grinned. 

“That sounds perfect.” He told her. She waved him forwards to the central counter. She pulled a kit out from beneath the counter, pulling off the tag and starting to clean up the ring, paying special attention to the stones. 

“And what type of box can I get for you today? Round, square? What color?” She asked setting out a few. He gestured to a simple black velvet square box. She gave the ring a final polish and tucked it into the box, sliding it towards him. He paid for it, trying not to wince at the thought of spending so much. Still he flipped the box open to look at the ring one last time before slipping it into his pocket, he could picture it on Ransom's hand for the rest of their lives. 

“Congratulations again! Please do come back with your fiancé for your wedding bands.” The woman told him with a grin. He nodded. 

“We'll be back soon.” He agreed, “Thank you so much.”

“You keep your daddies in line, little girly.” She told Jemma. Holster laughed. 

“She will do that,” he agreed, smiling as he wheeled her stroller back into the parking lot. He had a ring box tucked into the pocket of his jeans. It was... It wasn't what Holster had expected when he imagined his life playing out when he had first come to school. He hadn't expected to fall in love with a man. He definitely hadn't expected he would realize he was bisexual and get married to a man all within the same year. Still, now he couldn't imagine it playing out any other way. 

By the time he got home he was nervous as hell. It didn't really make sense, he had already proposed after all. (And this wasn't a proper marriage anyway, he forced himself to remember.) Still, it felt different, giving Ransom the ring. He carried Jemma up the the attic with him and set her on the rug. She promptly crawled to where she saw Ransom's legs hanging off the bed and hugged them. Ransom looked up from his textbook with a grin. 

“Hey, sweetheart, how are you?: He asked brightly, setting aside his books and hoisting her into his lap. 

“She knows her daddy.” Holster murmured. “He's the one who will do anything for her. Including, apparently, marrying this idiot.”

“Yeah.” Ransom agreed. Holster sat down next to him on the bed. 

“Hey, I know it's not... well I know it's not a normal marriage, but I did propose to you.” He said, feeling like an idiot. 

“Yeah, and I said yes.” Ransom agreed. Holster nodded and pulled out his little velvet box. 

“That means, I owe you this.” He said quietly, setting the box on Ransom's knee. Ransom shifted Jemma so he could grab the box and open it. His eyes went wide and he actually gasped. Holster figured that it was definitely worth the money it cost for that moment alone.

“Holster, you didn't have to get me an engagement ring.” He murmured. 

“Yes I did.” Holster answered firmly, “I proposed.” Ransom was still just staring at the ring. 

“Holster... I-” he started, sounding like he was going to protest. 

“Rans, do you like it?” Holster asked, “I mean if you don't like it, or don't want to wear it I'd get it. I can take it back.” Ransom held the box closer to his chest possessively, eyes shining. 

“No, Holst, it's beautiful. I love it.” He breathed, “But you can't spend-”

“I already bought it. I don't regret it. If you love it, then it was worth it.” Holster told him. “Put the ring on.” Ransom shook his head and held the box out to Holster. 

“That's not how this works. You just reproposed. I'm not putting my engagement ring on myself.” He told his friend with a smirk. 

Holster chuckled and took the box, removing the ring carefully. Ransom shifted Jemma a little so his left hand was free, holding it out. Holster took it gently, sliding the ring onto Ransom's ring finger. It was an oddly intimate gesture. Then the ring was sitting on Ranson's finger, sparkling brightly against his dark skin. They both stared at it for a moment. Holster couldn't help thinking it was perfect, so perfect to have this ring that he had chosen and bought shining on Ransom's hand. It made him wonder what it would feel like to do the same thing with their wedding rings. To slide a simple band next to the sparkling one, to have Ransom put a matching band on his hand. A ring that would stay on his hand forever, marking him as Ransom's always Ransom's. 

“Ransom, I-” Holster started not sure exactly what he was going to say. Before either of them could find out what he was going to say next Chowder came into the room. They both jumped. Holster let go of Ransom's hand which he hadn't even realized he was still holding. 

“Hey! Sorry to bother you guys but Bitty's having a meltdown in the kitchen over what he needs to make for the wedding and no one can get a hold of Jack or Shitty and they're usually the only ones who can calm him down.” Chowder told them. Holster sighed. 

“Come on, let's go. We have a lot of wedding details to deal with.” He said. Ransom looked a little shell-shocked from the whole situation, then he shook it off and stood. 

“Yeah, we'd better get started.” He agreed. He followed Holster downstairs. Chowder, Holster, and Ransom all stepped over baby-gates carefully to navigate the Haus. As soon as Jemma had started crawling, two weeks before they had bought about ten baby gates and set them up all over the Haus. The basement door was completely locked off with them stacked three high, Shitty's doing and Holster suspected meant to keep frogs out more than Jemma. The living room has gates at both doors and one at the base of the stairs leading upstairs. Technically the things opened, practically, the guys had all stopped trying and started just jumping over the gates within the first day they were there. 

When they reached the kitchen they found Bitty leafing through his recipes feverishly muttering to himself. 

“Bits, chill out, we'll help you figure it all out. There won't be that many people there anyway.” Holster told him. 

“It's not about how many people there are!” Bitty snapped. “I've got to make it perfect. I have to make a wedding cake! I've never made a proper wedding cake before!” He turned back to his recipes. Ransom, Holster and Chowder exchanged worried looks. Ransom handed Jemma to Holster and then thrust his left hand out in front of Bitty's recipes. 

“Holster got me an engagement ring.” He told him. Bitty froze and looked up at Ransom, then back at the ring. 

“OHMYGODIT'SBEAUTIFUL!!!” He squeaked so fast it was hard to understand. He got up so he could hug them both and freak out more. Chowder came to look at the ring as well.

All the shouting attracted Dex and Nursey to the kitchen where they complimented both Ransom and Holster on the ring as well. For a while standing there with his team all talking enthusiastically about their upcoming wedding, Holster felt like this was exactly what it looked like. Two people who loved each other and had chosen to have a daughter together, getting married. He felt blindingly happy. Then the front door slammed open and Lardo and Shitty marched into the kitchen with matching murderous looks on their faces. 

“Oh Shit.” Holster muttered. He had no shame. He made sure Jemma is safely in Nursey's arms. Then he ran.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Try not to hate me for this. I swear I'm only gonna keep drawing this out for a few more chapters. We're almost there guys. So close, just stick with me. 
> 
> Incidentally I looked at engagement rings online for a while for this and decided I liked this one for Ransom (found at link below) ignore that it says online only and that I made it slightly cheaper. 
> 
> http://www.zales.com/mens-diamond-wedding-band-10k-white-gold/product.jsp?productId=71302016&ab=MM%3ARings%3AMen%27s&page=1


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ransom and Holster finish their wedding planning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had this written so I had to get it out to you guys today even though I just posted last night. It's mainly a filler chapter because things actually start happening next chapters.

Holster knows he has to call his family. It's been two weeks since he proposed, there are only two weeks until the wedding. They're holding it in a park a few miles away from campus. It's beautiful, and has a lovely shelter where they can have the reception. They've rented their tuxes. They've picked out flowers from a local florist. They've got all the official documents ready. Bitty is planning to bake a beautiful french vanilla cake with a cherry filling, as well as an absurd amount of pie, and cooking a million different things for dinner. He had made Jack, Nursey, Dex, and Chowder all promise to help him with the food. Almost everything is ready. Holster needs to call his family, Ransom needs to call his family. Neither of them do it that day. 

When they were in the living room discussing finding a minister to actually perform the ceremony, Jemma on the floor playing with her foam blocks, Shitty had actually leapt into the room. Holster jumped. He had been a bit edgy around Lardo and Shitty ever since the engagement ring incident. Lardo had gone to talk to Ransom but Shitty had chased Holster halfway across campus and tackled him. They had threatened to drag the both of them into a room and lock them there until everything was out in the open. Holster had been in the middle of trying to shout Shitty down when campus security had broken it up. Things had been tense ever since. Neither Lardo or Shitty had ratted Holster out, but he saw them muttering every now and then. Jack seemed to be stopping them from interfering in Ransom and Holster's relationship, and Holster figured he'd be grateful for the rest of his life. Still when Shitty jumped into the room, Holster was a little frightened, with good reason. 

“Shits please don't do that.” Ransom breathed. “You scared the shit out of us, dude.” Holster’s chest doesn’t glow when Ransom calls them us. He hasn’t been smiling every time he catches sight of Ransom’s engagement ring either.

“Were you talking about finding a minister?” Shitty demanded. They both nodded. 

“Yeah…” Holster agreed hesitantly. 

“You're kidding right?” Shitty asked, “You know I've been an ordained minister since I was like eighteen, just waiting for this moment right?”

“Seriously?” Ransom asked incredulously. Shitty nodded. 

“Dude, of course. You can look it up. I'm legally allowed to marry you guys.” He told them. “And if you let anyone else do it, I will be eternally wounded.” He added. So they had agreed that Shitty would marry them. Holster had privately made him promise not to do anything stupid like mess with their wedding in an attempt to get Holster to come clean about his feelings. Shitty swears on his life. 

They’ve told themselves that they aren’t going to call their parents until they have figured out all of the plans for their wedding. Holster thought they had sorted out everything, until they got home from the jewelry store after picking up their wedding bands. Most of the guys were sitting around the Haus. 

“You guys should give those to your best men.” Chowder commented when they showed them the rings. 

“Oh shit.” Holster muttered, “I forgot all about that stuff. We need groomsmen.” Part of him sighs a breath of relief, he doesn’t have to call his mom yet. 

“I just figured they were our groomsmen.” Ransom murmured, gesturing to everyone in the living room: Shitty, Lardo, Jack, Nursey, Dex, Bitty, Chowder. 

“Yeah but you each need to pick a best man, and decide who stands on whose side.” Shitty reminded them. “I would volunteer as best man but I would hate to upstage you at your own wedding... and I'm the minister.” He said proudly. 

“Dibs on Jack as my best man!” Holster said quickly. Ransom looked at him, betrayed. 

“How dare you!” He gasped. 

“Sorry. I called dibs he's mine.” Holster told Ransom. Jack blushed but he looked proud. Ransom sniffed. 

“Fine. Lardo is my maid of honor.” He declared. “And I get Bitty.”

“No way, dude! Bitty is mine.” Holster shot back, grinning. 

“Not a chance, bro. You took Jack, I get his beau.” Ransom told him. Bitty blushed and squeaked something that might have been a protest. Jack was redder than a tomato and muttered something about them not being together. No one listened to him.

“Fair enough.” Holster resigned. “How are we dividing the frogs?”

“I don't know... Dex and Nursey should go one to either side, that way they can walk together.” Ransom answered. 

“That means I get Chowder!” Holster said victoriously. Ransom's face fell,

“Wait-”

“Nope! Mine. The adorable frog is mine! You can pick whether you want Dex or Nursey.” He told Ransom magnanimously. 

“Nursey. No, Dex. No, Nursey. Or... I don't know!”

“Go for Dex, then all the people on our side are matching body types. We're smaller than them.” Lardo told him. Dex looked like he wanted to protest that statement, after all he was a lot taller than Lardo or Bitty, but he couldn’t deny being a smaller than Nursey. Ransom shrugged. 

“Alright, you’re with me Dex.” He agreed, “Sounds great.” 

“Jack, catch.” Holster called, tossing Jack the ring box with Ransom’s wedding band. Jack caught it and tucked it away safely. 

“I’ll take care of it for you, Holster.” He said with a smile, “Thanks for asking me to be your best man.” He added. Holster grinned at him.

“Of course, man.” He agreed, “You’re our captain. I wouldn’t want anyone else. After all. I am marrying my best friend, he can’t exactly be my best man as well.” Ransom smiled at him, nudging his shoulder almost shyly. Things between them had still been different. Every time one of them pushed things a step forwards with the wedding planning it was tense, like neither of them were sure if the other was going to call it off at any moment. 

Ransom handed Holster’s ring to Lardo to hang onto until the wedding. She took it and fist bumped him with a grin.

“Thanks for picking me instead of being a misogynist about it and needing a dude to be your best man.” She told him. Ransom laughed.

“Fuck that, you’re the best, dude. No one better.” he told her. 

“Is that the last of the wedding planning?” Dex asked curiously. They both nodded, their smiles fading in unison. They had no more excuses. There was a week and a half until their wedding. They had to call their parents. 

Holster called his mom. She cried and promised him that the whole family would be there. The wedding was in the evening, she booked a flight that arrived that morning while she was still on the phone with Holster. It wasn’t as painful as he was expecting. She didn’t seem as surprised as he was expecting her to be. She just told him that she was proud of him and that she was so happy to be welcoming Ransom and Jemma into the family officially. Holster didn’t have the heart to say anything except to thank her and tell her that he looked forwards to seeing them. When he hung up with his mother he felt lost. It hurt to lie to her, especially when she was so proud, but he had no idea what else to do. 

Ransom called his parents the same night. He wouldn't tell Holster exactly what they had said, just that they were coming as well. He had gone out onto the roof to call his mother and spoken to them quietly. When he came back into their room his eyes were red. Holster knew better than to ask for details. If Ransom said everything was fine and that his family was coming then Holster knew he shouldn’t question anything else. Instead he let Ransom stay silent. He just curled around him comfortingly that night. He knew Ransom was more terrified of losing Jemma than anything. Holster knew exactly what he felt like. Their lives might have been a mess, but they were in it together. If they curled around each other more tightly that night than normally, neither of them mentioned it. 

The wedding was fast approaching, but everything seemed to be planned out properly. Despite all of that Holster couldn’t help getting more and more nervous. Besides their families, the entire team, their coaches, and a few of their other close friends were coming to the wedding. Johnson had called and told them he was coming, saying he couldn't resist a wedding, it was his favorite trope. They just accepted it, even though they hadn't even invited him, or told him they were getting married. It would be a small wedding, under fifty people were coming. Holster was glad there wouldn’t be too many people there, he thought he might be incapable of getting his vows out if there were too many people there. 

He and Ransom were writing their own vows. Holster found that he had ended up with two sets of vows. He had written the vows he knew he should say, mild and fitting to their marriage of convenience. Then there were the honest ones, telling Ransom how much he loved him, how excited he was to spend the rest of his life with him. He hadn’t meant to write them out but he hadn’t been able to help himself. He couldn’t help wondering what Ransom was writing in his vows. He would have to wait for the wedding to hear them properly. Holster found himself looking forward to the wedding more than he had ever expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys. There is one more chapter before the wedding, then the wedding then one more chapter afterwards (I'm pretty sure). However, I think I am going to post all of those at once because I don't want to torture you guys too much.
> 
> I hope you aren't ready to kill me for drawing this out so long. I appreciate you reading and commenting so much!


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the day before the wedding. Ransom and Holster have a chat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys so I said I was going to post the last three chapters at once. I lied. Once I finished writing this I realized I had to get it to you at once.
> 
> This is a big chapter guys... I really hope you like it.

When they finally hit the day before the wedding Holster was more nervous than he had ever been in his life. Bitty was in the kitchen already baking pies of all kinds, with extra honey peach for Ransom and blueberry crumble for Holster. The smells were killing him but Bitty insisted that they were not allowed to touch any of it until after the wedding. Holster whined that Bitty was a slave driver and told him he wasn't going to let Bitty baby-sit anymore. Bits had just laughed and told him that they wouldn't be able to hold that threat for longer than a week. Holster wanted to prove him wrong but the little Southern menace was probably right. 

He and Ransom tried to pretend like everything was normal. They took Jemma on a walk around the pond, talking about everything except the fact that they were getting married the next day. Except the sunlight kept glinting off of Ransom's ring where he had his hands up pushing the stroller, and Holster could hardly focus on their conversation for being distracted about it. 

They had agreed that there was no point to doing a rehearsal, the wedding would probably be ninety-percent chaos anyway and they had agreed it was pointless to worry about it. Bitty was busy live tweeting his wedding cake process from the kitchen when they got back. Holster decided to leave him alone. So they played with Jemma and played Mario cart, and did everything except talk about important things. Holster could sense Ransom getting more and more anxious, and he didn't know what he could possibly do go fix it. Lardo tried to talk him down, tried to get him to come smoke with her and Shitty but he refused. (Holster figured there was probably something poetically beautiful about the maid of honor and Minister of the wedding inviting one of the grooms to smoke a joint with them). Chowder chattered at them both happily until Dex and Nursey finally dragged him away. Jack pulled Holster aside. 

"Are you okay?" He asked awkwardly. Holster nodded. 

"Yeah, I really am. I just hope Rans is. I... this whole thing is a mess." He muttered. Jack chuckled. 

"A bit, but I have a feeling you'll figure it out." He told Holster, clapping him on the back. It helped. Jack's vote of confidence meant a lot to Holster. 

They managed to avoid talking about it until that night. They put Jemma to sleep together like they usually did but when Holster looked over from where he was finishing Jemma's lullaby he saw that Ransom had left his side and was sitting on the bed. He was crying. 

"Rans, what's wrong?" Holster asked, going to him immediately. When he tried to put a comforting hand on Ransom's shoulder his friend flinched back. Holster let his hand fall, his whole chest feeling the pain of it. Ransom continued to cry quietly. Holster wanted nothing more than to hold him close until he stopped shaking but he didn't want to make it worse if Ransom didn't want to be touched. Rans was wringing his hands. Holster realized he was playing with his ring.

"Ransom, please talk to me. Tell me what's wrong. You know you can tell me anything." Holster begged. Finally Ransom looked up at him, eyes red. 

"I don't think I can do this, Holst." He murmured. Holster felt himself stop breathing. 

"What?" He asked weakly. He felt the world spiraling out of control. He had been holding onto the fact that he would have Ransom at his side forever, no matter what, whether they were properly together or not. It was the most important thing. Now that felt suddenly at risk and Holster didn't think he could survive losing it. 

"I can't do this, Holster." Ransom repeated. "I can't marry you just for Jemma. My sister was right, I can't torture myself like this, be so close to everything I've ever wanted and not be able to have it. I can't. It's not right. It's not fair to me or to you." 

"Rans, you aren't making any sense. What do you mean?" Holster asked. 

"I want to marry you, Holster." Ransom told him, "I want to marry you so badly, but I want... I want all of it, everything marriage is supposed to mean. I want... I want you. So bad, Holst, it's killing me. I can't marry you and not actually have you, it'll destroy me." His voice was so sad it broke Holster's heart. Ransom held out the engagement ring. Holster stared at it for a long moment trying to comprehend everything that Ransom had just said. As it all sank in he started to grin, his chest feeling lighter than it had in months. He took the ring out of Ransom's hand gently, turning it over a few times as he tried to find the right thing to say. Finally he moved to kneel in front of Ransom. 

"Justin Oluransi. You are my best friend, and the father of our daughter. You are the most amazing person I know, and there is no one else in this world I'd rather spend the rest of my life with. If you'll have me, I am yours, completely, now and forever. Will you marry me?" He asked, his voice wavering a little. Ransom stared down at him, not crying anymore but looking confused. 

"Holster, I don't think you understand-" he started. Holster smiled, sliding the ring back onto Ransom's finger where it belonged. He got up and sat next to Ransom, still holding his hand. 

"No. I do understand. I finally understand, perfectly. It took way too long for us to get here, but we're on the same page, Ransom. I want to marry you, not just for Jemma, for me. For us." He said carefully. 

"Really?" Ransom asked, his eyes lighting up with hope. Holster felt like he might fall apart at the sight of it. 

"I've proposed to you three times now, Rans? What is it going to take for me to convince you I want to marry you?" He asked, grinning even though he felt tears in his eyes. Ransom chuckled. 

"I think that works." He laughed. He was a little teary eyed too but they were both grinning like idiots. 

"We're both such a mess." Holster observed, giggling. Ransom nodded. Without much of a transition they were both laughing, leaning into each other for support as they did. It was all a little bit too much, a little too ridiculous. Holster barely heard the knock at the door before Bitty came in. 

"One of you two needs to get out of this room this instant." He commanded. They both looked up at him, wiping tears off of their faces. Holster didn't have it in him to be surprised or upset at being interrupted, it seemed pretty fitting at the moment. 

"What are you talking about Bitty?" He asked good naturedly. He couldn't be upset when Ransom's hand was in his. He felt like he could conquer the world. 

"You're getting married tomorrow, you can't see each other until the wedding." Bitty reminded them. That just made both of them laugh again. Holster shook his head as Bitty actually stamped his foot. 

"Okay, Bits. I'll be down in just a second." He promised. Bitty left the door open as he started down the stairs. Holster squeezed Ransom's hand one last time. 

"I'll see you tomorrow, Rans." He promised. Ransom just nodded wordlessly. Holster forced himself to let go of Ransom's and and start down the stairs. When he had almost reached the bottom of the steps Ransom rushed into the stairwell. 

"Wait, Holster!" He called. Holster froze, a million doubts racing through his head in the half second before he turned to see Ransom's face. His friend was staring at him like he was the whole world.

"Yeah?" Ransom blushed. 

"Just- I need to..." he stammered then took a breathe. "I love you." Holster thought the whole world could stop and he wouldn't even notice. 

"I love you so goddamn much.” He said taking a few steps at a time to get back up to Ransom. He needed to kiss his fiance now, or he thought he might explode. He was nearly there when a hand clamped down around his arm. 

“Oh, no you don’t!” Bitty snapped. “Tomorrow! You are getting married tomorrow! You can wait.” He ordered. 

“Bits, you’re killing me.” Holster growled, turning to look at him. Bitty did not let go. Ransom was laughing. He leaned down and pecked Holster on the cheek. 

“Just go.” he chuckled, “We’ve got the rest of our lives after tomorrow.” He promised. Holster sighed and let himself be dragged back down the stairs. He was going to kill Bitty for this someday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hate me for the ending. It was my Beta's idea. She's an evil soul and I absolutely adore her for it. 
> 
> I'll do my best to get the last few chapters out to you guys in the next day or so.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First wedding chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, these are the last two chapters (and then the epilogue) I hope you guys like them!

Holster was nervous from the moment he woke up. It took him half a second to remember where the hell he was. It had been ages since he had woken up anywhere but at Ransom's side. When he opened his eyes to see a giant poster he remembered. Bitty had dragged him to his own room, and vanished into Jack's room without explanation. Shitty must have been in there at the time because Holster had heard a shout. 

"They were going to kiss and you stopped them?!" Shitty sounded anguished. Holster had laughed as he heard slamming doors. Jack and Bitty had either thrown Shitty out or he had stormed out. Holster couldn't bring himself to care one way or another. He had fallen asleep on cloud nine. He was going to marry Ransom tomorrow, everything was perfect. 

When he woke up, every doubt he had ever had came flooding back into his head. What if Ransom changed his mind? What if he hadn't meant it? What if their relationship fell apart? What if, what if, what if? He was hyperventilating. Jack knocked on the door gently before coming inside. 

"Holster, are you alright?" He asked. Holster shook his head a little. Jack sat at his side, rubbing his back gently. 

"It's gonna be okay, Holster." He promised. "You're getting married to your best friend today. It's going to be fantastic." He murmured. 

"What if he doesn't want me? What if he backs out?" Holster muttered. Jack laughed. 

"That's never going to happen, Holster. He loves you. Ransom loves you so much." He reassured, "You know that he loves you. You two are going to be so happy together. Everything is going to be good.”

“Where’s Jemma?” Holster asked, instead of addressing anything Jack had said. 

“She’s still upstairs with Ransom. Bitty will bring her down to see you later, but you two are still not allowed to interact until the wedding.” Jack told him. 

“Why is Bitty doing this to us?” Holster whined. “We live in the same house, how are we supposed to avoid each other all day?” 

“We’ll work it out.” Jack told him. “We’ve got more than enough people here to manage. For the time being, you need to get up, your family will be here soon.” Jack told him. Holster groaned. 

“I hate everything.” Holster muttered. He shooed Jack out of the room and checked his phone. 

‘Are you okay?’ He text Ransom before he could think about it too much. When several minutes passed he sent another message, ‘Ransom, I love you. It’s okay, please don’t panic.’ 

‘How do you always know?’ he got back a few minutes later. ‘I love you too.’ Holster grinned down at his phone. 

‘I know you.’ he answered, feeling ridiculous for texting someone who could probably hear him if he shouted. Still, he knew better than to try to fight with Bitty. If anyone was a bridezilla in this marriage, it was Bitty, and Holster wasn’t questioning it. 

The hallways were carefully monitored when Holster and Ransom moved through the Haus. The frogs were acting as chaperones, escorting them to and from places on Bitty’s orders. They couldn’t see each other but they continued to text.

‘Bitty’s killing me with this not seeing each other thing.’ Ransom sent. 

‘Right?! I missed seeing your face when I woke up this morning.’ Holster answered

‘I never want to wake up anywhere but next to you.’ 

‘I feel exactly the same way. I slept like shit over Christmas break when you weren’t there.’ 

‘God, I know!’ Ransom’s response made Holster laugh

‘We’re so cheesy.’ he sent back.

‘We’re getting married, we’re allowed to be cheesy.’ Ransom told him. 

‘I still can’t believe we’re getting married in a few hours.’

‘Yeah it’s so soon! I have to rewrite my vows!’ 

‘Ransom waiting to do something until the day it’s due? Gasp. The shame of it!’

‘Fuck off! I said REwrite.’ Ransom said.

Holster was laughing when Bitty brought Jemma down to Holster and ushered him outside to meet his family. He held Jemma close to his chest as the rental car pulled into the driveway. His mom burst out of the car before his dad had even managed to park properly. She rushed to him, to hug both him and Jemma. 

“Adam, darling! I’m so proud of you!” She exclaimed. He laughed. 

“Calm down, mom.” Holster protested, giving her a one armed hug. 

“You’re getting married today, Adam! I’m your mother, I’m allowed to be proud!” She said. “And how is your darling Jemma?” She asked, lifting her out of his arms. She kissed her on the cheek. 

“How is my beautiful little granddaughter?” She asked. Jemma giggled waving her hands happily. Holster caught his younger sisters up in one big group hug. He managed to lift them up off the ground, laughing. He and Ransom had recruited all of their collective sisters into being flower girls at the wedding. 

“Congrats son, I’m glad you two figured yourselves out.” Holster’s dad murmured, hugging him as well. 

“Holster get back in here before Ransom has to go get his parents!” Bitty called through the kitchen window. Holster laughed and beckoned his family into the Haus. The whole Haus was buzzing with activity. Holster couldn’t believe how fast time went by that day. Sooner than he had ever expected Jack was telling him that he had to get ready. He put on his tux, slung Jemma’s diaper bag over his shoulder and they loaded themselves into the car. Jemma was dressed in a tiny white dress that Jack had bought for her. (When Bitty had seen this he had melted). 

Holster his family, and the team with the exception of Ransom and his half of the wedding party arrived at the wedding site early. Ransom was arriving later. Shitty had already been there making sure that everything was set up properly. When Holster saw him he couldn’t help laughing. Shitty was wearing a black tailcoat over a red silk vest. He had a cravat tied neatly around his neck. His mustache had clearly been waxed and curled slightly at the edges. To top the whole thing off he had a shiny black silver topped cane in his hand, and a silky black top hat sitting on top of his head, hair tied neatly back with a red silk ribbon. 

“Don’t laugh, I look fabulous.” Shitty said with a grin. Holster just shook his head in disbelief. Shitty looked down at Jemma with a smile. 

“You think I look fabulous don’t you? Doesn’t uncle Shitty look fabulous?” He cooed. She smiled at him and reached up towards his face. Jemma loved to try to pull off Shitty’s mustache. He kept his whiskers carefully out of reach. 

“You’re ridiculous.” Holster told him. Shitty rolled his eyes and adjusted Holster’s tie for him. He pulled a red ribbon from his pocket and tied it around Jemma’s hair like a head-band. 

“She needs to match the color scheme.” He said when he saw the look Holster was giving him. The only color in their wedding party was red, it seemed fitting, Samwell colors. Then he ushered the two of them off. Lyla took over watching Jemma. Jemma was a flower girl technically but Lyla was in charge of actually getting her down the aisle and then to her stroller for the ceremony. 

The ceremony. It was fast approaching. Bitty looked like he was just covering the last of the food up over in the shelter. The team was helping guide non-team guests to their seats, white folding chairs which had been setting up in rows in front of an archway of flowers. A red carpet was rolled out between the two sides. An array of white and red roses were everywhere. Jack had paid for the flowers and the rented chairs. They had tried to protest but he had basically fought them for the bill. Before he knew it Holster looked up to see Jack standing in front of him. 

“You ready, Holster? It’s time.” He said with a smile, gesturing towards the seated audience. All the chairs had been filled. Holster’s heart was in his throat but he nodded. He saw the wedding party all standing ready just beyond the back of the chairs. He knew that Ransom had to be just behind the grove of trees just next to them with Lardo. His heart felt like it might beat straight out of his heart as he walked with Jack straight to the beginning of the aisle. Holster’s older sister readied her cello where she sat off to the side. (He had called and begged her for help when they had realized that they didn’t know what to do with music of the actual ceremony.) She started to play as the flower girls all started down the aisle, tossing rose petals down the aisle as they did. 

Holster barely took anything in as he walked down the aisle. His hands were shaking, he knew he probably looked like a mess but he was too busy being terrified to care. He took his place standing to one side in front of Shitty who patted him on the back encouragingly. The wedding party followed. Dex and Nursey arm in arm, Bitty and Chowder, and finally Jack and Lardo, taking their places to the appropriate sides. Holster was staring at his hands, but when the song shifted he looked up to the end of the aisle. Ransom stood directly in front of him. Holster felt himself stop breathing.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Wedding Part Two, vows and shit

Holster had been more nervous than he ever had been before for most of the day, but when he saw Ransom it all faded. His heart was still pounding, but his hands weren’t shaking anymore. This wasn’t terrifying. This was Ransom and Holster. It was the most familiar thing in the world. This was home. Holster couldn’t be afraid. He wanted this. He was more sure about that than he was about basically everything else in his life. 

Ransom smiled at him and Holster's heart beat even faster somehow. He grinned back. Rans held his eyes as he walked down the aisle. He was wearing a well fitted white tuxedo, the negative of Holster's black one. He reached Holster's side after what felt like an eternity. 

"Hey." Holster whispered. 

"Hey." Ransom answered, taking Holster's hands gently. 

"Ladies and gentleman." Shitty began. "We are gathered here today to witness the marriage of Adam "Holster" Birkholtz and Justin "Ransom" Oluransi...." Ransom started tracing his thumb over Holster's palm and Holster missed most of Shitty's intro. 

"Now, for the vows." Shitty said with a smile, "Adam?" Holster took a deep breath. He knew which vows to recite. 

"Justin, Ransom. You're my best friend in the entire world. You've been at my side for the past three years of my life, the best three years of my life. I can't tell you how long I've been in love with you. I don't know myself. By the time I realized it, I had been in love with you so long that it was already the most familiar thing in the world. This marriage might have been spurred forwards for other reasons, but, my love, I hope you know that I love you more than life itself and there’s nothing I want more in this world than to marry you. I look forwards to spending every second of my life standing by your side.” he took another shaky breath, trying not to cry. There were tears in Ransom’s eyes. Holster squeezed his hands before he continued. 

“There aren’t a lot of promises I can make and know will last a lifetime, but I can tell you this: I’m yours, forever, and I will devote the rest of my life to us and our family. I don’t know what’s going to come for us in this life, but whatever happens, I know it’s going to be okay because whatever we go through, we’re going to go through it together.” his voice was wavering a little, and his eyes were full of tears but he was grinning. Ransom was crying and smiling more widely than Holster had ever seen.

“Oh my god, Holst I… wow I’m falling apart. Give me a second.” Ransom muttered, chuckling as he wiped away his tears, trying to pull himself together. Holster heard sniffling from their groomsmen, and their officiant. 

“Adam, Holster,” he corrected with a smile, “My closest friend, love of my life. When I first met you, I was a scared neurotic mess. Then I met you and suddenly I had someone I could rely on no matter what. You understand me in a way no one else ever has. You’re the most incredible person I’ve ever met, the most kind and loving and loyal friend I’ve ever known. You never even questioned it before deciding to dedicate your life to Jemma and I. You’re such a good father. For these reasons and too many more to list, I love you. I’ll always love you. That’s what I can promise you. I will spend the rest of my life, our life, trying to show you just how much I love you, as we go through it together every step of the way.” He said. Now Holster was properly crying as well. They both glanced at Shitty who cleared his throat.

“Do we have the rings?” He asked Lardo and Jack. They both produced the wedding bands. He nodded. “Right. Adam, repeat after me…” He said, saying the words slowly. 

“I, Adam Birkholtz, take you Justin Oluransi, to be my lawfully wedded husband.” Holster repeated, “To have and to hold, for richer, for poorer, for so long as we both shall live.” He finished, sliding the ring onto Ransom’s finger where it joined his engagement ring. Ransom squeezed his fingers a little as Shitty turned to him. 

“I, Justin Oluransi, take you Adam Birkholtz to be my lawfully wedded husband.” Ransom recited in turn, “To have and to hold, for richer, for poorer, for so long as we both shall live.” Holster could feel both of their hands shaking as Ransom slid the ring onto his left hand. Their hands stayed intertwined as Shitty grinned. 

“By the power vested in me, by this great state of Massachusetts, I now pronounce you husband and husband.” He declared, “You may now kiss the groom.” 

When Holster leaned forwards to press his lips against Ransom’s he told himself that he would keep it short, mild, appropriate. Then Ransom was kissing him and Holster forgot the entire universe as his hands twined around his husband tightly. Their lips fit together perfectly without the usual awkward adjustment that came as part of first kisses. It was the way that their relationship had always worked, the two of them had never been awkward, they had always just worked. It was perfect. It was everything Holster had hoped for in the million times he had imagined this moment. It was lasting slightly too long.

Shitty cleared his throat. It took all too much effort for Holster to pull away from Ransom. When he did all he could see was Ransom’s face. He looked so radiantly happy. It was a look Holster knew was reflected on his own face. He honestly couldn’t haven’t told someone later whether the sun was actually shining during that moment, Ransom’s smile made the whole world so much brighter. It took a second for him to notice that everyone was clapping. Ransom grinned and pulled him back down the aisle. 

“Okay everybody, we’re going to get some pictures of the wedding party but please proceed over to the pavilion for the reception.” Shitty declared.

Ransom and Holster didn’t let go of each other for the rest of the evening. They took pictures with the wedding party, and with their family. Mostly pictures of Ransom, Holster, and Jemma: the Oluransi family. They had both wanted to share a name but agreed that hyphenating their names was a disaster. It made more sense for Holster to change his name than to make Ransom and Jemma both change theirs.

When they got done with pictures they headed to the pavilion where Bitty started uncovering and distributing food. Dex hooked up the sound system. Everyone sat down to eat, laughing and talking brightly. All throughout the meal people kept clinking their glasses for Ransom and Holster to kiss. Holster obliged enthusiastically. 

“I will never get tired of kissing you.” he told Ransom with a grin. 

“That’s a really good thing, seeing as I’m your husband.” Ransom answered. Holster kissed him again. 

“I love that. My husband, you’re my husband.” He said. Ransom leaned into him. Neither of them could stop smiling. 

Neither of them could dance well either. The first dance was a mess of swaying and awkwardness, but they were too busy laughing and smiling at each other to care. Soon enough Bitty dragged Jack onto the floor to join them. Dex joined Nursey, blushing bright red. Farmer and Chowder danced with so much enthusiasm that other people were dodging around them. Shitty actually carried Lardo onto the floor but once he got her there she danced with him like no one was watching. Ransom and Holster danced together and took turns holding Jemma and spinning her around the dance floor. Bitty and the rest of the Haus crew came up to them at the end of the night. 

“Okay, guys. I’ll take Jemma back to the Haus. You should probably get going.” Bitty said with a smile, still clutching the bouquet he had caught. 

“What are you talking about?” Holster asked. 

“It’s your wedding night! You didn’t think we were going to let you spend it in an attic with your daughter sleeping nearby, did you?” Shitty asked. “Nah, bro! We got you two a room at the Hilton for the night. Wedding gift from the team.” 

“Yup. In the meantime, we’ll make sure Jemma wants for nothing.” Jack told them. 

“Thank you so much.” Holster said, feeling his face go red. “Really all of you. Thank you for everything.” He said. Ransom let Bitty take Jemma from his arms. 

“Just get out of here.” Lardo told them both. “Before shit gets more awkward.” Holster threaded his hand through Ransom’s. They both kissed Jemma good night one last time before fleeing to Holster’s car. 

When they got to the hotel they found the reservation (already paid for) under the name Misters Oluransi. It made them both blush and grin as the hotel sent them a complimentary bottle of champagne for being newly-weds. Finally they found their room. Ransom pulled Holster inside as he shut and locked the door firmly behind them. 

Holster’s lips crashed down on Ransom’s, finally free to kiss him without anyone watching. Ransom tasted like champagne, honey peach pie, and something that he knew was just Ransom. It was the most intoxicating thing he had ever tasted. Holster clutched Ransom as close as he could while simultaneously pushing his jacket off. They didn’t break apart until Ransom’s legs hit the bed and they both overbalanced falling awkwardly onto the blankets. They were both a mess, half of their clothes falling off from the work of frantic hands. They both laughed. Holster took a moment to take in the sight of Ransom sitting there. He was so goddamn beautiful. Holster couldn’t understand how it had taken him so long to see it. Ransom bit his lip a little nervously and suddenly Holster was afraid.

“Hey, are we okay?” He asked, “I mean, I know we just got married but we haven’t actually been together very long and I get it if… I just. Whatever you want is good, I don’t want to push you.” he stammered. Ransom grinned at him. 

“You’re perfect.” He murmured, shaking his head. “No, Holtzy, this- this is perfect. I’ve just wanted this for so long I can hardly believe it. And I mean if anything, I know you’ve never… and well…” He blushed ducking his head. Holster cupped his face, tilting it up to he could kiss him gently. 

“You’re right. This is all new to me.” He agreed. “But I’m sure you’ll be an excellent teacher. And we have all night. We have the rest of our lives, Rans.” 

“Does that mean you want to wait?” Ransom asked, looking confused. Holster laughed and pulled Ransom forwards into a bruising kiss. 

“How did I marry such an idiot.” He muttered between kisses. Ransom snorted, and shoved Holster back onto the bed with a grin before following him. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning Holster woke up curled around Ransom like so many mornings before. Except this morning there was nothing between them, interrupting the press of warm skin against skin. This morning there was the weight of a ring sitting on Holster’s left hand. This morning, there was finally nothing to stop from leaning down and kissing Ransom’s gorgeous mouth. Ransom’s eyes flickered open as he did so. 

“Good morning, Love.” Holster murmured. A smile spread over Ransom’s face. 

“Good morning,” He answered, straining upwards to catch Holster’s lips again. They check out later than intended.


	20. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Afterwards

Ransom and Holster walked out of court not long after their wedding, Jemma held close to Ransom’s chest. Holster was holding the document stating that Jemma Rose Oluransi was to remain in the full time legal custody of her fathers, Justin and Adam Oluransi. He wouldn’t say it to Ransom but Holster couldn’t help thinking that this moment might rival their wedding for the happiest moment of his life. When he looked at Ransom though, he saw on his husband’s face, that he would probably agree. They walked down the steps of the courthouse as a family, Ransom and Holster walking in step easily. 

Holster glanced behind him to see Jack physically dragging Shitty out of the courthouse. Last he had seen Shitty had started over towards where the Williams’s were standing, muttering about giving them a proper piece of his mind. Seeing where Jack was struggling to keep Shitty from running back into the building, Holster figured he had the right idea. While it might be satisfying to let Shitty tear those bastards apart, Harvard might have something to say about one of their incoming students being arrested. Besides, Holster couldn’t bring himself to care about the Williams’s. He would never see them again, they had no control over his life anymore. 

“I’m so glad I have you two.” He told Ransom and Jemma with a smile. Ransom kissed him lightly. He backed up when Jemma patted him on the chest lightly.

“Dadda! Papa!” She protested her space being encroached upon. They were the only two words that she knew how to say. (Both of them would go to the grave denying that their daughter’s third word was something that sounded scarily close to a garbled version of Shitty). They both grinned down at her. 

“That’s right sweetheart. Daddy and Papa.” Ransom agreed. “You’re staying with us.”

“No one is ever, taking you away from us.” Holster agreed, kissing his daughter on the head. He wrapped his arm around Ransom. He was happy to just stand there for a moment with his husband and his daughter in his arms, their whole life stretching out in front of them, full of potential. It might not all be perfect, but he knew it would be okay, they were all together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's over! It's finally over!(okay so I'm gonna write other stuff within this verse but whatever) I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. 
> 
> I owe so many thank yous, to Ngozi for the beautiful webcomic which has consumed my soul. To my fantastic Beta who helps me come up with ideas and makes sure you aren't all subject to my typos. Mostly thank you to everyone who has read this. I never imagined that this many people would like something I had written! Your comments have been the brightest part of some pretty dark days for me and I can't thank you all enough!

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, comments/kudos are welcome!


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